Barring a change in James McDonald’s health, it looks like the Pirates’ Opening Day roster is pretty much set after Dejan Kovacevc reported last night that Michael Crotta will make the team as the final reliever, presumably at the expense of Chris Leroux (though that much is uncertain at this point and it could be Garret Olson, though that would leave the club without a lefty). Since Brian Burres was demoted over the weekend it seemed like it’d be down to either McDonald going on the DL or Crotta vs. Leroux. Crotta’s pitched much better this spring, but I still thought the club might’ve liked to keep Leroux and his fastball/slider combo in the bullpen while keeping Crotta and his sinker in Triple-A to start so that they can use him as an emergency starter or long reliever. Of course, Leroux’s still in camp and the club hasn’t made an announcement on McDonald yet, so it’s hard to draw a conclusion just quite yet.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
