Cherington discusses Bucs' potential camp plans

PITTSBURGH -- If there’s going to be a second Spring Training this year, the Pirates will hold theirs at PNC Park.

General manager Ben Cherington said Wednesday he remains “confident” that MLB and the MLB Players Association will come to an agreement to begin the regular season this summer, so the Pirates have been preparing accordingly. To that end, they decided they would host their Major League camp in Pittsburgh -- rather than their Spring Training facilities in Bradenton, Fla.

“It will be different, of course,” Cherington said. “Comparing PNC to Bradenton, let’s say, there’s going to be pros and cons to both, if you think about a training environment. But we felt that as we considered all the factors, we felt like Pittsburgh made the most sense, assuming we get to that point.”

Cherington cited several factors that led to the Pirates' decision. First, they want to make sure they’re as close as possible to their health experts and medical providers at the Allegheny Health Network. They also took into account that most players previously arranged housing in the Pittsburgh area for the regular season. They also believe they can use their Major League ballpark in “creative and different ways” than they might during a normal season.

To practice social distancing and potentially accommodate more players than usual, the Pirates have talked about setting up shop in not just the home clubhouse but also the visiting clubhouse, on the concourse, in rooms on PNC Park’s service level and more. The major drawback is obvious: PNC Park only offers one field and four bullpen mounds, whereas Pirate City and LECOM Park have more space for workouts.

Manager Derek Shelton joked during an interview on KDKA-FM that “all the pressure’s on Donnie” Kelly, Pittsburgh’s first-year bench coach, who is in charge of planning spring workouts. Shelton acknowledged that there will be challenges, but he said Kelly already has a tentative schedule in place and agreed “Pittsburgh is the best scenario for us.”

In preparation for the possibility of expanded rosters or so-called “taxi squads,” Cherington said the Pirates have looked at alternative venues for that group to train as well as potential secondary sites for players to get their work in.

“We’re working through what those options could be, but we’re confident we put together a good program at PNC,” Cherington said.

Injury updates

• Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said pitchers Clay Holmes and Steven Brault, who were injured when Spring Training was suspended in mid-March, are now healthy and ready to compete for spots on the pitching staff.

Brault seems like an obvious choice to join the rotation now that Chris Archer is no longer an option. Holmes, who is out of Minor League options, could find a spot in the bullpen. The Pirates haven’t committed to a role for either of them or right-hander Chad Kuhl, a starter who missed last season while working his way back from Tommy John surgery.

• Starter Jameson Taillon continues to make progress in his recovery from Tommy John surgery last August, Tomczyk said. Taillon won’t pitch this year, but he is on track to return in 2021.

• Kevin Kramer (right hip surgery) has returned home to Arizona, where he is undergoing physical therapy. Tomczyk said the Pirates anticipate a “full recovery” and a 2021 return for Kramer.

Around the horn

• The Minor League season has not been officially ruled out, but teams are preparing contingency plans to continue their player-development process. Cherington said the Pirates “definitely remain hopeful that there will be some kind of player-development activity” this year, though they haven’t decided on any details.

“Some of the work we’ve done has been around, in our case, either a Bradenton-based programming that would include a period of training and then a period of games, kind of a graduated instructional league where you’re playing games against local organizations,” Cherington said. “There’s also been some modeling done around expansion of the Fall League and maybe expanding that to other places, giving teams more of a full-squad [program] in a fall environment.”

• As the Pirates prepare for the Draft, Cherington said he reached out to the Steelers and GM Kevin Colbert about what they learned while conducting a virtual NFL Draft during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Kevin was extremely helpful and generous with information,” Cherington said. “One of the things that he said that really resonated with me was that, in a virtual environment, there can be a sort of inclination to kind of pursue every possible new gadget and technical toy out there to incorporate into the process. You want to be careful about that, because at the end of the day, it’s still about getting the board right.”