Buccos Cove

With all the injuries the Pittsburgh Pirates have gone through this year, fans were left holding their breath when Jacob Stallings left Sunday's game with a left knee injury. We take a look at who is available if the Pirates need to dip into their catching depth. With all the injuries that the Pittsburgh Pirates have had to deal with over the last couple of seasons, there has been one position that has been a constant. Jacob Stallings has been a workhorse behind the plate. He caught more innings than any other catcher last season and is currently second among catchers in doubles with 13. So, to say Pirate fans are holding their breath today would be an understatement. Stallings took a hard foul ball off his left knee and was forced to leave Sunday's game in the seventh inning. Michael Perez came in to catch the final three innings of the game and went 0-1 dropping his season average to .100 (4-40). Stallings is set to go through some evaluations today and then the P...

While the alternate training site is full of up-and-coming prospects, there are also a few veteran guys looking for jobs on the Big League club. They also serve an important role for the camp as they try to give advice and guidance while showing their skills on the field. When you think of the Pittsburgh Pirates alternate training site, the first names that usually come to mind are guys like Oneil Cruz, Travis Swaggerty, and Braeden Ogle. These guys are the future of the Pirates and the ones who will hopefully bring winning back to Pittsburgh. However, among these young guys are a few veterans who are trying to find their way back to the Big Leagues. These guys are mostly Minor League Free Agent signings like Brian Goodwin, Todd Frazier, and Andrew Susac who have been around the league a time or two. While these guys are also trying to make their way back to the Big Leagues, they serve a key role as mentors to these young players trying to make it for the first time. All fo...

The Pittsburgh Pirates alternate training site is underway and as the extended camp rages on into April, there are battles starting to form. One of those key battles that might impact the Pirates this year is who will be the team's third catcher. While the Pittsburgh Pirates kicked off their home schedule this afternoon with a 0-0 tie against the Chicago Cubs, there is another battle brewing just up the river. It isn't a battle of two teams, but a battle to see who would be the first catcher called up of either Jacob Stallings or Michael Perez got injured. There are four catchers currently at the alternate training site, and after the battle between Michael Perez and Tony Wolters for the Major League backup job, none is the other catchers got a lot of time at the plate. But now, under the watchful eye of Alternate Site manager Brian Esposito, these four men will battle it out to see who the third catcher will be for the Pirates in 2021. The four men battling for the...

Last season, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed catcher Andrew Susac to a Minor League deal, and he ended up riding on the taxi squad most of the season. Now, he is looking to break back into the Big Leagues with the Pirates. Last season, the Pittsburgh Pirates finished as the worst team in Major League Baseball going 19-41. Without the Minor Leagues, there were several players laying in wait to help if the Pirates needed it. One of those players was catcher Andrew Susac, who was in his first season with the team. The Pirates signed Susac as a free agent as a mutually beneficial move. Susan was looking to get back to the Major Leagues after not receiving a full-time shot since the 2015 season, and the Pirates were looking got veteran insurance behind the plate. They had a first-time starter in Jacob Stallings behind the plate, and if things went bad Susac had the experience to step in. Well, it turned out that Stallings was more than capable of handling the starting catching dut...

One of the few positions for the Pirates without a question mark is the starting catcher's role, currently held by Jacob Stallings. We take a look at the team's back-up catching options to see who will be giving Stallings breaks during the season. Last season, Jacob Stallings emerged as the Pittsburgh Pirates' primary catcher and thrived in his full-time role. He was a Gold Glove finalist on defense, and he handled the bat well hitting .248 with three home runs and 18 RBI. He caught more innings than any other catcher in Major League Baseball, with 345.1 innings of work behind the plate, and remained healthy throughout the season. However, the catcher is a very vulnerable position, and even guys like Stallings need a day off from time to time. That is where the back-up catcher's role comes in, and the Pirates have a couple of different options to back-up Stallings this season. Catcher has been a position where the Pirates have lacked depth in recent seasons,...

With the 2020 Pittsburgh Pirates season at an end, it is time to evaluate each position group and how they impacted the 2020 team. Today, we look at the catching core led by first-time starting catcher Jacob Stallings. Prior to the 2020 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates catching situation was a major question. You had Jacob Stallings taking over the reins as the team's starting catcher for the first time in his Major League career. Behind him, there was no depth with Christian Kelley and Jason Delay being the next men up for the back-up catcher's role. New General Manager Ben Cherrington addressed the situation right away by signing two veteran back-up catchers in John Ryan Murphy and Andrew Susac to create some competition in Spring Training. When all was said and done Stallings won the starting catcher job and Murphy was the back-up with Susac being the third option in satellite camp. Turns out that this was one of the strongest position groups for the Pirates this s...

As we await the start of the 2020 MLB season due to Corona Virus concerns, we will take a look at every player on the Pirates roster and outline what they will bring to the table and projections for the 2020 season. I hope this brings some positive reading to the current situation and helps us all as we wait for baseball. If there is one thing that can kill a Major League Baseball player's career, it is the Injured List. Hundreds of players go on the injured list every year for things as minor as a scratch on their finger to as major as cancer. No one likes to go on the injured list, but some are just more prone to being injured than others. For Pirates catcher Andrew Susac, the injured list has been more of a home than he would like. He has been in the Majors since the 2013 season and has spent at least some time on the injured list every single season. After signing a Minor League contract with the Pirates this off-season, Susac is looking to stay healthy and provide ...

The Pittsburgh Pirates opened their 2020 spring training schedule when they took on Minnesota on Saturday falling 2-1. Mitch Keller led the way on the mound while the offense struggles to get going. Baseball is officially back as all 32 major League teams have taken the field to open the 2020 Grapefruit and Cactus League Schedules. With the start of a new season comes intrigue and excitement as fans and players alike get ready for the next eight months of action. For the Pirates they got a strong showing on the mound from their future ace as they took on the Minnesota Twins. They fell 2-1 to the defending AL Central Champions, but got a strong showing from Mitch Keller in his Grapefruit League debut. Keller started the game and threw two scoreless innings allowing just two hits and facing one over the minimum. Both hits he allowed came with one out and he was able to work out of the jam each time. Keller didn't walk anyone and only got into one one ball count all aft...