BRADENTON, Fla. — When Nick Yorke and Billy Cook arrived in Florida for Spring Training, they had a shared purpose: to make the Pirates’ Opening Day roster. They also shared living space.
This weekend was a special one for the housemates, as Yorke and Cook found out within hours that they’ll fly to New York with the team Monday, earning depth roles when the Pirates open their season at Citi Field against the Mets.
“My goal this offseason was to make the team,” Yorke said following a 6-3 loss to the Red Sox at LECOM Park. “I accomplished that, and now the new goal is to win as many games as possible.”
It’s only fitting Yorke and Cook will do this together because they’ve done pretty much everything with the Pirates in lockstep.
Pittsburgh acquired Yorke from the Red Sox for Quinn Priester on July 29, 2024. A day later, they knocked on another AL East foe’s door, getting Cook from the Orioles for … wait for it, another right-handed pitcher in Patrick Reilly.
Yorke made his MLB debut on Sept. 2 of that season.
Cook arrived six days later.
“We’ve had a similar journey,” Cook said. “It’s been fun.”
And productive this spring.
Yorke is tied with Jake Mangum for the most hits on the club with 12 while batting .261. Cook (10) isn’t far behind. Cook has had more power (five extra-base hits) and walks and thus hold an edge in OPS — .799 to .697.
As for their mentalities, Yorke talked earlier this spring about feeling like he wasn’t big or quick enough to stick. That informed his offseason work, serving as a constant motivator to improve his body and become more agile.
Those gains have shown up at multiple positions for Yorke. Cook, meanwhile, was coming off a broken wrist that forced about a six-week shutdown, the lingering issue following a spring where Cook hit just .160.
This time around, with his wrist fully healed, Cook wanted to keep things simple. His biggest adjustment was not being so “handsy” with his swing — in other words, doing a better job rotating his hips.
While also playing a few different positions, Cook’s simpler swing produced some solid results, including a three-hit game against Yorke’s former club on March 8.
“I feel like I put together a more complete spring,” Cook said.
Their parallel stories even brought out some humor.
Yorke was on his way to dinner on Anna Maria Island when manager Don Kelly called with the news. He was blown away and imagined processing that news when he was 12.
Then Yorke sat down with his fiancee and her family and ordered a cheeseburger.
“It’s been a long journey,” Yorke said. “Really excited to be here and show Pittsburgh what I can do.”
Cook heard shortly before Sunday’s game, when Kelly pulled him into his office along with hitting coach Matt Hague.
“He said, ‘Some meetings are hard. This one’s not gonna be. Congrats,’ ” Cook said. “He couldn’t keep it in. I couldn’t keep it in.”
One small problem, though: The game was close to starting. All Cook could do was drop a note in his family text thread. And, after playing his first full game of Spring Training, he had not yet had a chance to call his mom (Julie).
“I’m sure she’ll be very emotional and happy,” Cook said. “She definitely will be there Opening Day, I’ll tell you that.”
Around the horn
• Henry Davis has been working this spring on letting the ball travel, along with a few more mechanical changes. He got an important result with his homer on a fastball located up-and-away to right-center in the fourth.
• The Pirates’ rotation for the first five games of the season is set. Following Paul Skenes on Thursday, it’ll be Mitch Keller Saturday and Carmen Mlodzinski Sunday against the Mets. Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler will open the Reds series.
Mlodzinski is newsiest one there. The right-hander struggled as a starter last season (5.67 in nine starts) before rediscovering his form as a reliever later in the year (2.12 ERA in 59 1/3 innings).
The kicker, though, is that Mlodzinski became a vastly different pitcher midway through the year. He started throwing a splitter and curveball that’ve been really good this spring.
Mlodzinski earned the job by pitching to a 2.92 ERA in four games (three starts).
“It feels good,” Mlodzinski said. “I’m happy to help the team however I can, but my mindset going into it is definitely a lot different than last year. It’s one day at a time, earning the opportunity to take the ball as much as possible.
“I think having a different mentality this year will help me. I don’t want to make the same mistakes.”
• Mitch Keller went 3 2/3 innings, allowing one earned run while striking out five in his final tuneup. The five strikeouts came on five different pitches.
“Felt like I can use any pitch as a weapon to strike somebody out,” Keller said. “That’s a good feeling going into the season.”
• Before the game, the Pirates optioned Rafael Flores Jr. and Cam Sanders to Minor League camp. They also reassigned Chris Devenski, Joe La Sorsa, Carson Fuller and Alika Williams to Minor League camp.
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.