With just three more days until Opening Day, the Pittsburgh Pirates got their Spring Training roster down to 31 players with the following moves. Right-handed pitcher Geoff Hartlieb was optioned to the minors, while outfielder Brian Goodwin, infielder Wilmer Difo and recent minor league signing Steven Wright were all reassigned to minor league camp. The Pirates need to make five more moves to get down to their 26-man roster for the regular season.
Hartlieb posted a 7.11 ERA in 6.1 innings over seven appearances this spring. That’s a bit misleading though because all of the runs he gave up came in his final outing. Prior to that, he had allowed three hits and four walks in six shutout innings.
Goodwin batted .229/.317/.371 in 35 at-bats over 14 games this spring.
Difo hit .275/.356/.325 in 40 at-bats over 15 games.
Wright has not appeared in a game yet. He was just signed eight days ago. He’s scheduled to pitch tomorrow.
The only remaining non-roster invites still in camp now are pitchers Clay Holmes, Chasen Shreve, Chase De Jong and catcher Tony Wolters.
These moves today basically set the position player part of the Opening Day roster. The only remaining battle is Wolters vs Michael Perez for the backup catcher spot and Perez likely has the advantage with him being on the 40-man roster, which would allow them to keep Wolters as depth. Assuming that happens and the Pirates don’t add anyone last minute, that would leave:
Jacob Stallings and Michael Perez behind the plate.
Colin Moran, Adam Frazier, Kevin Newman, Erik Gonzalez, Phillip Evans and Ke’Bryan Hayes in the infield.
Gregory Polanco, Anthony Alford, Dustin Fowler and Bryan Reynolds in the outfield.
