Pittsburgh Pirates Wake Up Call – A Canadian Exhibition

In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates.

…they’re still yapping about the 1994 Expos

The Pittsburgh Pirates wrap up their Spring Training season by playing the Blue Jays in Montreal this weekend. This isn’t specifically Pirates’ related but please allow me a rant. Any time there’s a baseball game in Montreal, it causes someone to bring up the 1994 Montreal Expos. You remember them, right? They were the team that was DEFINITELY going to win the 1994 World Series if not for the Players Strike. When the strike happened, the Expos were the best team in the league. The Strike happened began in August. The MLB playoffs start in October. So while, yeah, the Expos could have won the World Series that year, which would have caused baseball to stay in Montreal. Or they could have lost in the first round. Or maybe they would have collapsed in September and the Braves would have won the NL East again. We will never know.

The 1994 Expos are an amazing what-if team. However, nearly every other Expos club struggled with attendance and it wasn’t exactly a guarantee that baseball would have stayed relevant in Montreal. Even if the Expos were able to finish the job in a hypothetical 1994 MLB where no Strike happens. I was sad when the Expos moved to Washington and became the Nationals. Always liked the team and especially their uniform. However, it’s been almost 15 years since the move happened and almost 25 years since the 1994 season. It’s time to shut up about the 1994 Montreal Expos.

Back to the Pirates

Thank you for allowing me to get that off my chest but back to our regularly scheduled baseball coverage. The Pirates-Blue Jays games will present the end of the Pirates fifth starter competition. We already saw Trevor Williams one last time and he dominated. Now, Tyler Glasnow gets his chance. Will the top prospect thrive and be awarded a spot in the rotation to start the regular season? With the release of Jared Hughes, there’s actually a very good chance that both players make the team out of Spring Training. It’s the release of Hughes that lead me to believe that Glasnow may end up as the fifth starter and Williams ends up as a long man in the bullpen.

With the release of Jared Hughes, there’s actually a very good chance that both players make the team out of Spring Training. It’s the release of Hughes that lead me to believe that Glasnow may end up as the fifth starter and Williams ends up as a long man in the bullpen. However, we shall see how Glasnow’s last spring appearance goes. The Pirates may want to reward Williams for his excellent spring. Plus it isn’t like the team has an immediate need for a fifth starter at the start of the regular season. One thing is certain, both of these players have shown enough to have earned this job. It’s been one hell of a competition.

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