What to watch for as Pittsburgh Pirates arrive for Spring Training

While spring training games aren’t underway just yet, there are still some stories to watch over the next few days during workouts for the Pittsburgh Pirates players.

The long-offseason is finally coming to an end for the Pittsburgh Pirates. While the off-season can be exciting around the time of the Winter Meetings, it progressively slows until spring training begins. Yesterday, pitchers and catchers officially reported to Bradenton, Florida, and every Pirates’ fan rejoiced.

Good morning from Bradenton.

It's report day for pitchers and catchers!#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/9cX2ujbCpj

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) February 17, 2016

Before long, the entire team will be in Bradenton, training and preparing for the season at Pirate City. We finally get to see players practicing on fields, participating in actual baseball activities. They’ll be taking batting practice, fielding grounders, and doing all the things that take us back to our childhoods doing those very same things.

Unfortunately, the first spring training game for the Pirates is still 12 days away, and Opening Day is over a month away. But while the games won’t matter for the next month, there are still plenty of storylines to follow as baseball activity resumes. Here are a few things we’ll be keeping an eye on as we lead up to spring training games.

Jung Ho Kang’s return to the field

Jung Ho Kang hasn’t played in a game since September 17th when he was infamously taken out by Cubs’ utility man Chris Coghlan on a slide into second base. Since that point, Kang has been rehabbing his left leg. Originally predicted to not return to game action until late May or early June, Kang has progressed faster than expected, and Neal Huntington has stated that Kang could be ready for Opening Day. That means watching how Kang’s off-season rehab translates to actual baseball activities. He’s been taking grounders at third and I’m sure he’s been swinging a bat, but the team will certainly be keeping an eye on his movement and how that left leg twists and turns as Kang moves around the field.

John Jaso’s move to first base

It was certainly a surprise that the Pirates signed John Jaso to be one half of the first base platoon opposite Michael Morse, considering Jaso has five total innings at first in seven major league seasons. The Pirates saw first-hand the difficult transition Pedro Alvarez made last season from third to first, but it’s not just Alvarez; many players can’t easily move to another position. Moving to first isn’t like moving around the outfield.

Fortunately, Jaso has spent the majority of his career behind the dish, and if any position has the easiest transition to first, it’s catcher. Recently we’ve seen Buster Posey do it, as have many other catchers in years past. Catchers are used to picking balls out of the dirt and using their bodies to stop balls that get away from them, which translates well to first. In the coming days, we’ll get to see many videos of Jaso taking grounders at first, covering the bag, throwing to second, and the like. It will be interesting to say the least.

Ray Searage gets back to work

Ray Searage has his work cut out for him this year. Jim Benedict left in the off-season for an opportunity with the Marlins, and now we’ll get to see how much of the magic the Pirates have had in reclamation projects over the past few seasons is truly due to Searage. Benedict had an under-appreciated, yet important role in the Pirates’ recent pitching resurgence, and the impact of his loss will be seen this season.

And Searage certainly has his plate full. First, he has the annual reclamation projects, this time in Ryan Vogelsong and Neftali Feliz. Both players have had dominant seasons in the past, but they have to get away from their abysmal 2015 seasons to be of any help to the Pirates. Apparently Searage has also been working with Jeff Locke to get him back to the dominant first halves he had in 2014 and 2013; it will be intriguing to see if that work translates to on-the-field success. We’ll get our first look at the deliveries, pitch selections, wind-ups, and the like during workouts, so we’ll get to see what Searage has changed and if these pitchers look any different from last season.

Jameson Taillon hopes to finally make an impact

One story-line I’m personally intrigued by is Jameson Taillon, the former top prospect who has a ceiling as high as any pitching prospect in the game but has not seen game action since 2013 due to Tommy John and hernia surgeries. If Taillon stays healthy, he could and should reach the majors at some point this season.

Taillon looks to be healthy for the first time in a while, and will be with the Pirates for at least the next few weeks. The Pirates will be keeping an eye on how similar his delivery looks to the past few seasons, and if the velocity on his fastball is still all there. They’ll also want to see if he’s in any pain when he pitches (which he shouldn’t be), and if he’s not holding anything back. While the team will want to be careful with how Taillon progresses back to game action, they still don’t want him to be too hesitant. If Taillon can return to the form that once made him a top prospect, the Pirates could have a fearsome rotation by year’s end.

While spring training games still aren’t here yet, the baseball activities we’ll see over the next week and change will give us much to analyze. There’s a lot hinging all of the above going right for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but if they all do, that’s one step closer to contending once again this season.

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