LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The Pirates made their first roster cuts of the spring Monday morning, optioning pitchers Nick Kingham and Clay Holmes to Triple-A Indianapolis and re-assigning pitchers Cody Dickson and Tyler Eppler, catcher Jin-De Jhang and shortstop Kevin Newman to their Minor League camp.
Kingham, coming back from Tommy John surgery, appeared in three games this spring, pitching five innings. Holmes started one of his three appearances.
The 23-year-old Newman, a first-round Draft choice in 2015, hit .389 (7-for-18) in 11 spring games.
Jhang hit a home run in one of his six at-bats. The cuts left the Pirates with 56 players in camp, including 27 pitchers and not including third baseman Jungho Kang, who remains in South Korea with a visa issue.