THE BULLPEN

     On Friday, Mrs. Black-N-Gold & Brother Black-N-Gold are Florida-bound. We head on the road to Clearwater to watch our Pittsburgh Pirates battle the Philadelphia Phillies at Spectrum Field on Saturday (Mrs. Black-N-Gold refuses to give Bottom Dollar Bob anymore money until he puts it back into the team and not his pocket). To get ready for the trip and to get all of Black-N-Gold Nation ready for another season of baseball from the Pittsburgh Baseball Club, here are some things that we're looking forward to seeing on our journey (in no particular order).

1)The new outfield alignment of LF Gregory Polanco, CF Starling Marte and RF Andrew McCutchen. As Mrs. Black-N-Gold typed these words, she almost typed "CF" for Cutch. Oops! That will take some getting used to for both #22 and the fans. The New, Improved Outfield of Dreams!

2)Will UTIL Adam Frazier be SRod 2.0? Fraz has been working on his defense this offseason, looking to boast his value to the team. We already no what he can do atop the batting order based on last season's audition. Maybe manager Clint Hurdle can plug him into the lineup 4 to 5 times a week to spark the offense. Mrs. Black-N-Gold feels that Frazier can do for the Bucs what Josh Harrison did in his super-sub All-Star season of 2014.

3)It will be good to get a look at 1B Josh Bell and see where he is. Remember, he got a late start to spring training due to knee surgery. Has he caught up with his bat? And how's the defense over at 1B?

4)We know that RHs Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon and Ivan Nova are inked in as starters 1-3 for the rotation. How about #s 4 and 5? It looks like RH Chad Kuhl will be the 4th starter. Meanwhile, RHs Tyler Glasnow and Drew Hutchison and LH Steven Brault have been battling for the final spot. No one is running away with the job. Mrs. Black-N-Gold predicts that Glasnow will start the season in Indy to work on his off-speed stuff and control. It will come down to whether the Bucs want a lefty in the rotation (Brault) or whether Bottom Dollar Bob wants his $2 million man in the rotation (Hutch).

5)In years' past, the Bucco bullpen was a strength of the team. This year? Maybe not so much. LH Tony Watson, LH Antonio Bastardo and RH Jared Hughes have all had struggles this spring. All 3 are being counted on to bring stability to the 'pen. Watson will start the season as the closer but if he continues to wrestle with the role, what will happen?

 6)The battle for bench spots has heated up, especially with the emergence of 1B/OF Jose Osuna. The legal/visa issues for 3B Jung Ho Kang may open another spot on the bench. With the Buccos scheduled to start the season with an inter-league series at Boston, they'll need a DH in the lineup. Why not go with Osuna, the team leader in HRs & RBIs this spring?

7)Beach & Baseball!

     Mrs. Black-N-Gold will report back to you when she returns next week. The season is less than 2 weeks away. Play Ball! Let's Go Bucs!!!!!