Buccos Cove

In one of the bolder moves made by Ben Cherington and his staff, Travis Swaggerty went from Advanced-A ball in 2019 to Triple-A in 2021. He has been rewarding that confidence, tearing the cover off of the ball in his first two games at the Triple-A level. In the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft, the Pirates selected outfielder Travis Swaggerty out of South Alabama University. In his first two seasons in the Pirates organization, he rose through the ranks of A Ball, and after struggling initially he put together a good season in High-A Ball. He ended up hitting .269 with nine home runs and 40 RBI in 121 games with Bradenton in 2019 and was all set to make the jump to Double-A Altoona in 2020. However, the pandemic shut down the season and Swaggerty was forced to spend the year at the Pirates alternate training site in Altoona. He earned his first trip to Big League Spring Training this season as a non-roster invitee in 2021 and got a lot of experience against upper-echelon ...

Every year, prospects across the league take that next step to their Major League clubs. Today, we look at what Pirates prospects could be making that jump to make an impact on the Pirates during the 2021 season. Every year all 30 Major League Baseball teams start with a 25-man active roster at the beginning of the season. However, it usually takes more than 25 men when you are trying to put together a successful season. That is where your Minor League prospects come in, filling holes for injuries or ineffectiveness on the Major League club. Some of those prospects have seen the bright lights of the show before, while others are getting their taste of the Big Leagues for the first time in their careers. It is these prospects that come up and make an immediate impact that gets the crowd excited and make them start wishing for the future. Last season, the Pittsburgh Pirates impact rookie was infielder, and #3 overall prospect, Ke'Bryan Hayes. Hayes came up and electrified...

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. As a first-round draft pick, a lot of pressure was placed on Travis Swaggerty to succeed in the Pirates organization. When you look at his stat line through his first two seasons in professional baseball, nothing really stands out, but he is able to do a lot of things at an above-average rate on the field. He has some raw power that he can tap into at times, he is able to get on base at a consistent basis, and he has good speed to patrol the outfield on defense. His first-round selection in the 2018 MLB Draft marked the second year in a row that the Pirates selected a college prospect with their first-round selection. In his first full season in profession...

The Pirates offense jumped on the Tigers early in split squad action but it wasn't enough as they fell 8-4. Many of the regulars played well on offense showing promise for the upcoming week. After dropping their Grapefruit League Opener on Saturday, The Pittsburgh Pirates split it up on Saturday when they took on the Detroit Tigers at LECOM Park. Many of the regulars were in the starting lineup and they performed well on the offensive side. After the Tigers scored the first run of the game, JT Riddle drew a leadoff walk and Gregory Polanco followed suit one batter later to put runners at first and third with one out. Will Craig would hit a sacrifice fly tying the game at 1-1. The Tigers would answer with a run in the top of the second and the Pirates offense would go to work again. Socrates Brito started the second inning with a leadoff double and O'Neil Cruz would drive him in with a double of his own off the left field wall that tied the game at 2-2. Charlie Tilso...