Buccos Cove

This off-season, the Pittsburgh Pirates were searching for a veteran back-up catcher for Jacob Stallings. They found their guy in catcher Tony Wolters as he tries to be a steady presence behind the plate when Stallings needs a day off. Over the last two seasons, the Pittsburgh Pirates' back-up catching situation has been complicated, to say the least. Before the pandemic hit in 2020, the Pirates were ready with Jacob Stallings being the starter and new signee Luke Maile taking on the back-up role. Then, the shutdown hit, and Maile ended up breaking his finger when the team came back to Pittsburgh, ending his season. Veteran John Ryan Murphy was named the back-up and was below average at best. Stallings did not end up getting many days off, and both Maile and Ryan Murphy left the organization in free agency. The meant the Pirates were in the same situation they were a year ago, looking for a back-up catcher for the 2021 season. They claimed former World Series runner-up ...

We are just two weeks away from Opening Day of the 2021 season, and the first round of cuts has been made. Today, we try and predict who will be on the Pirates bench when the team heads up to Chicago to take on the Cubs on April 1st. When looking at the Pittsburgh Pirates 2021 roster, the hardest position group on the field to guess is the bench. With the new 26-man rosters for the 2021 season, there are a few different combinations of players the Pirates could go with. They could have 12 pitchers and 14 position players, 13 pitchers and 13 position players, or 14 pitchers and 12 position players. In an interview during Sunday's Spring Training game, General Manager Ben Cherington said there would be points during the season where the team would use 14 pitchers. He did not make it clear how he was going to balance out the roster on Opening Day, but for today's list, we are going with the model of 13 pitchers and 13 position players. With 13 position players on the t...

One of the big holes for the Pittsburgh Pirates over the last couple of seasons has been their depth at the catcher's position. Ben Cherington addressed that need on Thursday, signing veteran catcher Tony Wolters to a Minor League deal. Last season, the starting catcher's job was locked down by Jacob Stallings, as he showed he could handle the everyday starting job. However, behind him, things got a little bit hairy and the Pirates had to do some shuffling. After a Luke Maile injury in Spring Training, John Ryan Murphy filled the role as back-up catcher during the season. However, both Maile and Murphy are gone, leaving the Pirates in the same predicament they were in a year ago. This year, it was Michael Perez, Andrew Susac, and Joe Hudson battling for the back-up job, with Susac being the only one to play in more than 100 Big League games. Seeing the hole the team had, General Manager Ben Cherrington addressed this issue by signing veteran catcher Tony Wolters to ...