Pittsburgh Pirates Wake-Up Call – Spring Training Stats to Know So Far

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

So the World Baseball Classic is underway and there are some Pittsburgh Pirates participating. But there are still many players back in Florida competing for jobs and trying to get ready for Opening Day. We know that, so far, the Pirates are 12-4 this spring, good for the second-best record in all of baseball, behind the Yankees. We also know that spring training records mean nothing. However, maybe a good record, along with the second-best run differential in baseball at +28, will provide some optimism for the team, if nothing else.

From an individual perspective, there are a few intriguing names to follow. For one, Jose Osuna is having a monster spring. Osuna didn’t figure to even be a factor in the battle for bench spots on the major league roster, but he may be changing that with how he’s performing so far. Heading into Monday, Osuna is 11-for-25 at the plate with four home runs and eight RBIs. The 24-year-old isn’t much of a prospect, sitting at #27 in the Pirates’ system, according to MLB Pipeline, and only has 234 plate appearances at Triple-A Indianapolis, so the Pirates likely would want him to get some more seasoning at that level before calling him to the bigs. But is this spring changing things? It’s possible, but I still doubt he makes the Opening Day roster. His main competition is Adam Frazier, who performed well in the majors last year, and Alen Hanson, who has much more experience in the minors and who is reaching the time when he finally needs to be given a shot with the major league team. I think Frazier wins the battle for that last spot, but don’t be surprised to see Osuna with the Pirates at some point this season.

On the flip side, Tyler Glasnow doesn’t seem to be helping himself this spring. After striking out six batters in two innings in his first spring outing, he went out on March 8th and allowed six earned runs in 2.1 innings. In that second outing, Glasnow was not only hit hard but also issued four walks while striking out just one batter. The big issue with Glasnow is his control, and he’s not showing that he’s improved upon that so far. For every great outing he has, a poor one follows. Drew Hutchison could have the inside track for that fifth starter position come Opeing Day.

Baseball Talk Around the Web

• Nelson Cruz and the Dominican Republic capped an exciting win over the USA on Saturday night in the World Baseball Classic. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports writes about what this game means for baseball and the Dominican Republic.
• And R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports has a very interesting article on how MLB teams in this day and age get the data they use to build their teams. It’s a must-read.

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