Pittsburgh Pirates Wake Up Call- Opening Day is days away

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

By now we’ve heard all of the protests and calls for boycotts, but as disgruntled as most fans may be still with the organization, it’s hard not to get excited this time of year.

In what was a really long and mostly boring offseason for the Bucs, Opening Day is now just days away and for a couple of days at least maybe we can focus on meaningful baseball instead of what the front office did or did not do since the last meaningful Pirates baseball game.

With that in mind, here are some notes to get your day started.

• As expected, the Pirates will open the opening series against the Detroit Tigers with Ivan Nova, Trevor Williams and Chad Kuhl as the scheduled starters for the first three games. Jameson Taillon will pitch the home opener on Monday. As for Joe Musgrove, he will get the ball for the first time in the second series of the homestand against the Cincinnati Reds.
• I never take much stock in spring stats, but the Pirates have hit the ball out of the ballpark a ton this spring. They’ve hit 38 dingers this spring, which leads the Grapefruit League. Will that translate to more long balls during the season? Who knows, but for a team that hit only 151 total homers a season ago, they will take any good sign they can get.
• Speaking of dingers, Jose Osuna hit another one over the weekend and it looks like he has made the team as Bryce Brentz told reporters that he is going through the waiver process and hopes to stay with the Pirates organization.
• The Bucs have a pair of spring training games left against the Philadelphia Phillies in Philadelphia.
• Finally, old friend Pedro Alvarez has made the Baltimore Orioles Opening Day roster. Good for El Toro ans hopefully he gets his career back on track.

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Baseball talk on the web

• 2018 MLB Awards Pedictions
• Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright to begin season on the disabled list
• Phillies ink prospect Scott Kingery to six-year extension