TAMPA, Fla. -- Before Monday's game against the Yankees, the Pirates made a series of roster moves, optioning five players to Triple-A and reassigning three to Minor League camp.
The first group included pitchers Brandan Bidois, Wilber Dotel, Thomas Harrington and Antwone Kelly, plus outfielder Esmerlyn Valdez. The second: catcher Omar Alfonzo, pitcher Khristian Curtis and infielder/outfielder Mitch Jebb.
Harrington was on the periphery of the No. 5 starter competition and pitched well in Spring Training, allowing one earned run over six innings.
Bidois worked 2 2/3 scoreless frames across three appearances, while Dotel also made a solid impression, allowing two earned runs in four innings. He appeared in two games, making one start.
With the trade of Kyle Nicolas, it could have conceivably opened a bullpen spot for Bidois. However, the Pirates chose to take a little more time with a pitcher who had a breakout 2025, at one point retiring 64 consecutive batters and finishing the year with some absurd stats: 8-0, 0.74 ERA, seven saves, 69 strikeouts, .110 batting average against and 0.80 WHIP in 40 appearances.
"That's something that has impressed me with the young guys: the preparation, demeanor around the club, their work and the way they competed," Pirates manager Don Kelly said. "They showed a more mature development side. The way they’ve gone about it, they weren’t scared. They were competing and had really good camps.”
Antwone Kelly, who's currently away at the World Baseball Classic, gave up five runs (four earned) in 4 1/3 innings. Curtis allowed two earned runs in 2 2/3 innings.
Valdez hit .294 with a 1.007 OPS in 17 at-bats over 11 games. Alfonso appeared in five games and also had a double and a homer. Jebb hit .250 in 10 games.
The Pirates now have 54 players in Major League camp after they optioned Ryan Harbin and Jack Brannigan to Triple-A Indianapolis a few days ago.
Harbin (teres major and lat musculature) and Brannigan (broken nose) have both been injured, although the latter has been doing some baseball activities.
Cool gesture
Don Kelly joked that he wouldn’t be able to watch Paul Skenes and Team USA compete against Mexico in the World Baseball Classic on Monday night.
Skenes’ first college team, however, will have no such trouble. Skenes and Griffin Jax, an Air Force alum, paid for the school’s baseball team — which played at Baylor on Sunday — to stick around in Texas to watch Skenes.
Homer fest at Classic
The fourth inning was a big one for a pair of Pirates this afternoon at the World Baseball Classic, with Oneil Cruz and Spencer Horwitz each driving a ball over the fence during Team Dominican Republic’s 10-1 win over Israel.
Cruz smoked his 115.8 mph, which tied for the second-hardest-hit World Baseball Classic home run in the Statcast era. The owner of the top spot, of course, is also Cruz, who had a 116.8 mph missile on Friday.
Horwitz hit his 104.4 mph, which isn’t anything to sneeze at but also looks a little like a tapper by comparison.
"They both killed it," Kelly said. "Oneil’s line drive missile, seemed like it got out of there in two seconds. Then Spencer to right-center ... just really cool to see our guys on a big stage like that having success and doing well."