Illness, Braves no match for Anderson's perfect outing

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Sickness has been passing through the Pirates’ clubhouse recently, causing a handful of players to be late scratches due to the illness. Chase Anderson was feeling it a bit before his start Tuesday against the Braves at LECOM Park, but his arm felt good and he wanted to pitch.

The performance was worth muscling through the bug. Anderson tossed three perfect innings with a strikeout, setting the pace for a 5-1 Pirates victory.

The cutter and the changeup were his most used and effective pitches, throwing them a combined 24 times out of his 36 pitches (13 changeups, 11 cutters).

“He was efficient, he was in the zone and he went right after guys,” manager Derek Shelton said. “He had pitched at the back half of games, so we wanted to get him at the front half of the game… [He] executed both of those two pitches to both sides of the plate, which was really impressive.”

That change in pitch mix was something Anderson picked up in Colorado last year, where the high altitude of Coors Field made him move away from sweepers and more to his cutter and changeup, which he could locate more. The results for those pitches were solid, holding hitters to a .244 average with the cutter and a .163 average with the changeup.

If he makes the team, expect plenty of those pitches.

“One of my good pitching coaches, Derek Johnson, always said, ‘Be great at what you’re good at,’ ” Anderson said. “My fastball, changeup and cutter are my best three pitches. So, I’m gonna hammer those.”

Anderson is competing for a spot on the Pirates’ roster after signing a minor-league deal last month. While being in a roster battle after 10 years in the Majors could be humbling, he’s pitching with confidence and has tossed seven scoreless innings this spring.

“I wanted to bring it into spring, try to earn a spot on this team,” Anderson said. “Confidence is good. Being around as long as I have, that comes and goes. Preparation prepares you for results. You get results, it builds confidence. When you have confidence, things usually go pretty well because you’re convicted with everything you do.”

McKinney Strikes
Billy McKinney hit a three-run homer Tuesday, extending his on-base streak to 12 games this spring. He’s gone 8-for-22 at the plate (.364 batting average) with a .533 on-base percentage in that stretch.

The 29-year-old outfielder is one of several players in competition for a share of the third outfield spot alongside Bryan Reynolds and Jack Suwinski. That would have seemed a bit far-fetched a year ago, but he made some swing changes in 2023 that focused on his footwork and lower-half, which helped him earn a trip back to the Yankees and get on the Pirates’ radar.

“I really need to hold my ground,” McKinney explained. “That’s my main focus, using the ground the right way, because if I do that, my hands are going with it. If I don’t, my hands are going to push and you get out there and try to get the ball rather than let it come to you.”

About those homers
In addition to McKinney, Suwinski and Oneil Cruz also homered for the Pirates Tuesday, pushing their Spring Training total to 34, the most in baseball.

OK, those homers won’t translate to the regular season, but can anything be taken from this home run eruption?

“That we’re taking good swings,” Shelton said. “We’ve had some games where the wind’s been blowing out and it’s been a factor, but today there was no factor and we hit three. I think the thing to take away is we’re impacting the baseball and taking good swings.”

Suwinski also played a little small ball, swiping third base in the first inning. The Pirates have talked about being aggressive on the basepaths this season, like they were early last year, and small ball could account for most of their offense.

“We want to go out there and run the bases hard,” Suwinski said. “If we can take another 90, it's gonna be really good for us."