Roansy Contreras flashes and Termarr Johnson homers twice Pittsburgh Pirates fall to Toronto Blue Jays 8-4

The Pittsburgh Pirates dropped their third-straight game to open their 2024 spring training schedule on Monday afternoon to the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Florida by the final score of 8-4. The team is still winless in the early going of Grape Fruit League action. They now have an overall record of 0-3.

In the loss, Blue Jays designated hitter Brian Servern provided nearly all of Toronto's offense on Monday with five RBI across a pair of hits which included a three-run home run in the sixth inning. The Jays also had some prominent hitters in their lineup including Vladamir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and Justin Turner.

For the Pirates, 19-year-old prospect Termarr Johnson provided a majority of the offense with three RBI across a pair of home runs. Non-roster invite, third baseman Sergio Alcantara also had an RBI in the game in the eighth inning. Alcantara looks to catch on as a potential utility player. Still, other players got some at-bats including catcher Henry Davis and infielder Jared Triolo. Both are in situations where they cannot afford to have below-average Springs. While stats in Spring Training "do not matter" the Bucs have positioned themselves with plenty of alternative options.

Despite the loss to the team from up North, there were a handful of positive notes to come out of Monday's matchup. This includes some of the pitchers who threw in the game. In terms of stuff, Roansy looks to be in a better spot than when fans saw him last. There were a handful of pitching prospects who appeared with Braxton Ashcraft being the most notable. The team also marched out a couple of non-roster invitees as well.

CONTRERAS FLASHES DESPITE STAT LINE

Roansy Contreras's final line wasn't anything special. Two innings pitched, four hits, two earned runs, and one walk. That being said, there were promising takeaways from his time on the mound.

For starters, Contreras was mostly around the plate on Monday with 21 of his 35 pitches as strikes with another handful of pitches just missing the plate including several sliders. This early in spring training, pitchers are not necessarily looking to strike every batter out or even necessarily trying to avoid contact but instead, are focusing on getting their control down and focusing more so on the process than the end result.

Another encouraging takeaway for Contreras is that his velocity is up compared to last year. His fastball topped out at 96.2 mph while his average for the game across 17 fastballs was 95.2, almost a full mile per hour higher than it was last year at 94.3.

His slider and curve ball also saw increased velocity at 85.3 mph and 79.6 mph respectively.

OTHER NOTES

Henry Davis may have been 0-for-3 at the plate on Monday but he continues to hit the ball hard. In the third inning, Davis hit a 108.9 mph screamer to Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette for an out.

While spring training results at the plate or on the mound rarely matter, especially early in the season, it's a major positive for the Pirates that Davis has been ripping the ball at the plate so far.

Pirates third baseman Jared Triolo who was strong last season hitting .298/.388/.398 in 208 plate appearances continues his hot start to the spring, going 2-for-2 at the plate.

Despite the eight runs allowed, a majority of the Pirates pitchers on Monday had solid performances with Braxton Ashcraft, Colin Selby, Wily Peralta, Chris Gau, Justin Meis, and Brad Case all had scoreless innings.

Sean Sullivan struggled in his time on the mound, allowing four earned runs across three hits and one walk. Kade McClure also had a tough time in his two-thirds of an inning allowing two runs on two hits and a walk.

The Pirates will be back in action on Tuesday at 1:05 p.m. in Bradenton as they host the Atlanta Braves. The game will not be televised but can be heard on 100.1 FM/KDKA-AM 1020.