Category: Dailies

Yankees 4, Pirates 2

Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

Most everything you are going to want to read today is written fairly in-depth on the main site. So let me give you those links first:

 ***

You won’t find Kevin Correia complaining much about his start on Saturday — a start in which he threw 92 pitches (59 strikes) in six innings. This was his first six-inning outing of the spring, and it puts Correia in perfect position to be ready for his Opening Day start next Friday.

The results were pretty good, too. He served up a two-run homer to Alex Rodriguez in the first inning after narrowly missing with a two-strike slider to Mark Teixeira right before. Correia then limited the Yankees (who played mostly their “A” lineup) to just four more hits and one other run in his last six innings.

“I thought it was definitely my best outing in spring,” Correia. “I felt strong the whole time. You want your last Spring Training outing to be good. You don’t want to go into the season thinking about how you didn’t pitch well the time before. I felt pretty good about this one.”

The one thing the Pirates don’t have to worry about is Correia not being stretched out to begin the year. He has done as well as anyone on the staff in terms of getting in the spring innings necessary to pitch deep at the onset of the regular season. With 92 pitches on Saturday, Correia should be good to go over 100, as needed, on Opening Day.

“I thought he got stronger as he went on,” Hurdle said. “He expects a lot of himself. He never shuts himself down on an inning or an outing. He takes a lot of pride in getting the ball and pitching deep and getting as many innings as he can get. I thought it was a very good way for him to finish up.”

Correia will get five days of rest (instead of the normal four) before his next outing.

***

Michael Crotta allowed one run on two hits in an inning of relief, but he remains very much in the mix for a bullpen spot in Pittsburgh. One of three relievers fighting for two openings in the bullpen, Crotta hadn’t allowed an earned run (10 innings) until this game.

“He is a big guy,” Hurdle said. “He repeats his delivery pretty well. He’s got good downhill plane. It’s hard sink and he’s added a complementary breaking ball to it at times. He’s pounded the strikezone. He has done everything that he can possibly do to at least build his confidence.”

***

Don’t look now, but the Pirates have dropped five in a row and nine of the last 11. That’s not exactly the way I’d imagine the club wants to head into the regular season. Hurdle, however, downplayed the importance of needing some wins this week when asked about the losing afterward. 

“We play every game to win but if we don’t, we don’t,” he said. “We’re going to start the season and we’re not going to have any. You’ve got to play good baseball to win and we haven’t played complete games for the last 10-11 games. You have to throw a complete package out there. I’ll be more concerned when we’re running our regular team out there. Winning is always the intent, but again the focus will obviously shift to a higher degree of that once the season starts.”

With four spring games remaining, the Pirates are 10-19.

“We’ve got to go out and win ballgames and find ways to win ballgames,” first baseman Lyle Overbay said. “I think we need to do a little better job of picking each other up when things go wrong. It seems like it starts snowballing, and someone needs to pick us up – whether it’s a pitcher or a great defensive play – to snap us right out of it.”

Follow me on Twitter: @LangoschMLB

Day 40: Pirates @ Rays; Bucs cut five

Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

The Pirates cut five players from big league camp on Friday morning, in turn dwindling the number of players still around to 36. That still means that 11 players will have to leave in the next week. But the roster is beginning to take shape with some clarity.

The following moves were made on Friday:

  • RHP Tyler Yates reassigned to Minor League camp
  • RHP Sean Gallagher reassigned to Minor League camp
  • RHP Daniel McCutchen optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis
  • INF Josh Fields reassigned to Minor League camp
  • C Wyatt Toregas reassigned to Minor League camp

Also, general manager Neal Huntington confirmed that lefty Joe Beimel will not be ready to begin the season with the Major League club. Beimel will throw another bullpen session this weekend, but that does not give him time to get enough innings in before next week’s season opener. Beimel will remain in Florida for extended Spring Training and could even pitch a bit in Indianapolis, if he still needs to build his innings count by the time the Minor League season begins.

With Beimel out of the Opening Day mix, the following relievers are competing for two open spots: Garrett Olson, Brian Burres, Chris Leroux and Mike Crotta.

Other morning news and notes…

  • Huntington said that the team has not yet finalized whether it will take two or three catchers north. A decision on that should come soon, Huntington added. The makeup of the bench really hinges on which way the Pirates go with this.
  • Before leaving McKechnie Field on Friday, Fields say he was unsure whether he’d report to Triple-A Indianapolis or ask for his release.
  • With Fields out of the mix for the corner utility bench spot, that leaves Steve Pearce and Andy Marte as the last two standing. Huntington said that there really is no scenario in which both Pearce and Marte make the club.
  • Brad Lincoln (right arm contusion) threw from a distance of 120 feet on Friday and said he felt fine. He is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Saturday.
  • James McDonald remains scheduled to pitch in a Minor League game on Saturday.

On a side note, MLBlogs is changing its software (hopefully for the better) today, which means this blog is expected to be down during the afternoon hours. It might still be able to be accessed by you, but it won’t be able to be updated by me. Wanted to give you a head’s up so that you weren’t searching for anything new on here this afternoon. Once the update is done, I’ll get to learning the new program.

Lineups:

PIRATES: P. Ciriaco (CF), J. Rodriguez (SS), J. Bowker (LF), R. Doumit (C), S. Pearce (3B), M. Diaz (RF), A. Marte (1B), C. Wimberly (2B), C. Morton (RHP)

Pitchers: C. Morton, J. Hanrahan, J. Veras

RAYS: B. Zobrist (RF), E. Johnson (2B), E. Longoria (3B), M. Ramirez (DH), D. Johnson (1B), B.J. Upton (CF), K. Shoppach (C), R. Brignac (SS), S. Fuld (LF), J. Niemann (RHP)

Pitchers: J. Niemann

Follow me on Twitter: @LangoschMLB

Orioles 11, Pirates 7

Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

Pirates starter Ross Ohlendorf lasted only 4 2/3 innings on Thursday night… meaning that he still has not been able to finish five innings in a spring outing. In comparison, Kevin Correia and Paul Maholm have already done so twice.

Ohlendorf has already been named No. 3 in the Pirates’ five-man rotation, so this isn’t a case where he is pitching for a spot on the roster. Rather, Ohlendorf is pitching to get himself ready for the season — and given his recent results, there still appears work to be done.

Ohlendorf gave up six runs (five earned) on nine hits and two walks while on the mound against Baltimore. Two of his innings were strong; the other three, not so much. This comes, too, after the righty allowed 10 earned runs in his last two outings (five innings) combined.

His troubles on Thursday included giving up three home runs — one to Mark Reynolds, another to Luke Scott and the other to Felix Pie.

“It is still not as good as I would like it to be, but I still thought it was better than last time,” Ohlendorf said afterward. “I’ve been up in the zone too much. I feel like I was better today, but still not as good as I need to be. The fourth inning I was really happy with. The third inning, I thought, went pretty well. But I still need to pitch better.”

There has been a lack of efficiency, in particular, for Ohlendorf this spring. That’s the main reason why he has not been able to log as many innings as other starters in camp. Is it a concern that Ohlendorf has not yet finished five innings? He said no. Hurdle had this to say, when asked if there is concern about these struggles bleeding into the regular season:

“We’re going to find out when the regular season comes,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “All of us know the season is coming. Every starter knows his role. He’s got to give us length. It’s not so much the quantity as the quality that has to improve in his case. He’s aware of that. Once the bell rings, we’ll see where we go from there. He’s got work in front of him.”

Ohlendorf will have one more tune up before he takes the mound on Sunday, April 3, in Chicago. In addition to continuing to build up his arm (which physically is fine, Ohlendorf said), he needs to focus on not overthrowing. He’s struggled with this — and handling the need to be quicker to the plate while holding on runners — throughout spring.

“The first two innings and the fifth inning, I just think he gets in the routine where he starts overpowering the ball,” Hurdle said. “He throws through his slider. His fastball gets up and gets flat. We’ve got work to do. There is no doubt about that. What’s he’s got to find a way to do is when he gets amped up, he’s got to back away and get back to pitching. It’s inconsistent.”

***

Garrett Olson did not help his argument for deserving a spot in the Pirates’ bullpen with his showing on Thursday. After pitching a scoreless inning in his Pirates debut on Monday, Olson labored through one inning against Baltimore.

The Orioles scored three times off Olson, who gave up three hits, two walks and threw a wild pitch.

The Pirates have been adamant with their promise to take their seven best relievers north and not to meet any sort of righty-lefty quota. If that is truly the case, you have to wonder if Olson would deserve to be in. He has certainly not outpitched Mike Crotta (and others) at this point.

If Joe Beimel is not ready to start the season with the big league club it will be really interesting to see if the Pirates would be willing to go without a left-hander in the ‘pen.

***

Everything else of interest tonight can be found on the main site. That includes a full story on the Pirates’ rotation/Opening Day starter decision, which can be found here. By the end of the night there will also be items on Neil Walker’s four-hit game, Lyle Overbay’s strong spring start at the plate, Charlie Morton’s thoughts on being in the rotation and a look at the Pirates’ bullpen puzzle as it is now.

Follow me on Twitter: @LangoschMLB

Day 39: Pirates @ Orioles

Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

The news of the day came just about two hours ago, when manager Clint Hurdle named Kevin Correia the Opening Day starter. My guess had been that Paul Maholm would get the assignment and that Correia would pitch the home opener at PNC Park for a handful of reasons, one being Maholm’s tenure with the club. But the Pirates decided to go in a different direction.

Correia will face Chicago’s Ryan Dempster in that April 1 game at Wrigley Field.

Hurdle also announced that the rotation would go in this order: Correia, Maholm, Ross Ohlendorf, Charlie Morton and James McDonald.

All this is set assuming that McDonald can get his arm built back up in time. The hope is that he can extend himself to 50 pitches in an outing on Saturday. Then, McDonald would stay in Florida to pitch on March 31 — with the goal being 80 pitches. If McDonald can reach both of those thresholds without any setback, Hurdle said the team would be comfortable having McDonald start on April 6 in St. Louis.

As for the rest of your news…

  • Catcher Chris Snyder returns behind the plate on Thursday after missing two weeks with back soreness. He hasn’t had any back issues since resuming hitting and catching over the past few days.
  • Joe Beimel was scheduled to throw off the mound on Thursday. The Pirates haven’t announced what his progression will be from there, as Beimel returns from left elbow discomfort. One thing to keep in mind — if Beimel does not pitch in a Grapefruit League game the rest of the way, the Pirates would have the option of placing him on the DL to begin the season. And the club could make that DL stint retroactive to March 22. This means that Beimel would be eligible to come off on April 6. Going this route would give Beimel — who has made just two appearances so far this spring — a bit more time to prepare for the season but wouldn’t cost him the usual 15 days.
  • The Pirates’ other option is not to put Beimel on the 40-man roster until he’s healthy. Doing this would negate needing a DL stint since Beimel is a non-roster player right now.
  • Hurdle said that the club has already picked additional pitchers to be in the team’s bullpen, but he would not give names at this point. You’d have to guess that in addition to Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan that Chris Resop, Jose Veras and Jeff Karstens are in. So, too, is Beimel once he is healthy. I also get the impression that Garrett Olson has a real strong shot to be the seventh since he would give the Pirates another left-handed option.
  • If Beimel does not start the season with the club, the Pirates can choose any one of the number of right-handers left in camp to take his spot in the ‘pen until he returns.

Lineups:

PIRATES: A. McCutchen (CF), J. Tabata (LF), L. Overbay (1B), N. Walker (2B), P. Alvarez (3B), G. Jones (RF), R. Cedeno (SS), C. Snyder (C), R. Ohlendorf

Pitchers: R. Ohlendorf (5/6 innings), E. Meek, G. Olson, C. Leroux

ORIOLES: B. Roberts (2B), N. Markakis (RF), D. Lee (1B), V. Guerrero (DH), L. Scott (LF), F. Pie (CF), M. Reynolds (3B), M. Weiters (C), J.J. Hardy (SS)

Pitchers: J. Arrieta, M. Hendrickson, K. Gregg

Follow me on Twitter: @LangoschMLB

Correia named Opening Day starter; rotation set

Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

Manager Clint Hurdle announced on Thursday that right-hander Kevin Correia will pitch the season opener in Chicago on April 1. The nod was going to go to Correia or Paul Maholm, who will follow Correia in the rotation and will now pitch the home opener (April 7).

The full rotation will be as follows: Correia, Maholm, Ross Ohlendorf, Charlie Morton and James McDonald.

Correia had this to say about being named the Opening Day starter: “It’s a good honor for me, but I know there is a lot of work that is going to be involved with every five days. It’s not just one start. Every one is important. It is nice to go out there on a day that kicks off the season, but like I said in the past, in our rotation we need every one of these guys to pitch like they’re the best pitcher on the staff at some point in the year for us to do what we need to do.  I am excited about it, but I do know that there is a lot of work.”

This will be Correia’s first Opening Day start of his career.

Follow me on Twitter: @LangoschMLB

Astros 10, Pirates 6

Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

Manager Clint Hurdle and hitting coach Gregg Ritchie had Pedro Alvarez, Neil Walker and Ronny Cedeno all on the field after the game today taking extra swings. Hurdle didn’t want to make that big of a deal about the extra batting practice (which three players, including Alvarez, participated in on Monday). But that doesn’t mean that the extra work shouldn’t be pointed out.

“It’s something I’ve always done,” said Hurdle, a former hitting coach. “I would have preferred to have done it a few times earlier, but we waited because of the workload these guys have been carrying. It’s just more practice is all it is.”

You can read more on pirates.com tonight specifically about what Alvarez is targeting in these extra sessions.

***

It wasn’t a great day for lefty Brian Burres, who had previously not been scored upon this spring. On Wednesday, Burres was knocked around for 10 hits and six earned runs in five innings. The good news was that Burres was able to get his pitch count up. The bad news is that a lot of those pitches were up and over the plate. Command was the biggest issue.

“Even when I was throwing strikes, it wasn’t where I wanted them all the time,” Burres said. “Little bit wild with the strike zone today. I wasn’t keeping the ball over the plate enough and when I was, it was up and they did a pretty good job taking advantage of it.”

Burres and Jeff Karstens, as Hurdle pointed out again on Wednesday, are being built up as starters as part of a Plan B. In other words, either would be ready to step in if the Pirates need another starter the first time through the rotation. This could be the case if James McDonald is not ready to begin the year in the rotation.

Otherwise, Burres still has a shot at a bullpen role. The Pirates lack left-handed options, though I have a hard time seeing Karstens and Burres (both of whom fill very similar roles) both in the bullpen.

Burres said he’s trying not to think about such roster decisions, though that’s obviously easier said than done.

“You try every time to go out there and just take it outing by outing,” Burres said. “The other stuff is going to take care of itself after you’re done pitching so you want to make it as simple as possible with how you pitch and go out there and throw as many strikes as you can and not think about what will happen afterward.”

***

Speaking of McDonald, he is scheduled to return to game action on Saturday. Hurdle said the return will likely be in a Minor League game. By pitching McDonald in a Minor League game, the Pirates would be able to place McDonald on the 15-day disabled list to start the season but could do so with a retroactive date that would allow him to miss just one start.

Players who do not appear in an “A” game after March 22 can be backdated to the 22nd for DL purposes. That means that a player would eligible to come off the DL on April 6.

Burres or Karstens could step in for that one start and then McDonald could jump back into the rotation.

I bring this up as a possibility simply because McDonald has yet to pitch more than 2 2/3 innings in any of his three starts. He has time for just two outings (Saturday and then another late next week) before he’d be up in the rotation, and I just wonder if that’s enough time to get his pitch count up to where it needs to be.

***

Catcher Chris Snyder had 10 at-bats in a Minor League game on Wednesday, Hurdle reported, and will return behind the plate for the Pirates’ game against the Orioles on Thursday.

***

With another two hits and a walk, Lyle Overbay just keeps on producing this spring. He’s now batting .425 (17-for-40) and has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games.

Spring Training results often mean little, but the Pirates are hopeful that these recent results are a product of Overbay’s changed approach at the plate. If so, the success could carry over into the season.

“We started talking about him being more aggressive in the count early,” Hurdle said. “He’s had a good eye. Last season, we talked about the reason for some of the numbers. I think last season was more of an aberration.

“This man is determined this spring. He has made a conscious effort of getting out of the blocks clean. The confidence should have been built up. I think he’s found an approach that is going to work. It’s good to see.”

***

On the main site tonight, you can find notes about Alvarez’s extra work, Matt Diaz’s determination to get off to a better start, John Bowker’s push for a bench spot and Snyder’s expected return.

Follow me on Twitter: @LangoschMLB

Day 38: Astros @ Pirates

Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

MLB Network’s 30 Clubs in 30 Days special on the Pirates was on the clubhouse TV this morning. I wasn’t able to hear much of what was said, but a number of the players watched it fairly intently. I did catch a graphic in which Baseball Prospectus predicted the Pirates will finish in 5th place with 71 wins. 

As for your morning news…

  • In case you missed it on the day off yesterday, right-hander Fernando Nieve was released by the Pirates on Tuesday. The move came one day after Nieve had been reassigned to Minor League camp.
  • Also, MLB.com released its list of Top 10 Pirates prospects on Tuesday. You can find the list here.
  • The Pirates will honor their 2010 Double-A Altoona club in an on-field ceremony prior to the game against the Astros today. Altoona won the Eastern League Championship last season.
  • Right-hander Jose Ascanio (right elbow discomfort) threw another bullpen session on Tuesday without any issue.
  • Lefty Joe Beimel (left elbow soreness) threw on flat ground on Tuesday and again today. He said his arm is feeling much better but it’s still up in the air whether Beimel has enough time to get ready by Opening Day. There is no schedule yet for what Beimel will do next, and he expressed a willingness to start the year on the disabled list if it means that Beimel will be healthy for the remainder of the season. The big picture — not April 1 — is the focus here.
  • Brad Lincoln (right arm contusion) grabbed his glove on Wednesday morning and headed out to the field to play long toss. The Pirates haven’t announced anything official, but I don’t see a scenario in which Lincoln is headed anywhere but Triple-A Indianapolis to begin the season.
  • Righty James McDonald (left side soreness) is slated to throw another bullpen session on Wednesday. His next step has not been announced, though he would have to get into a game pretty soon, I’d imagine, in order to build himself back up to where he can begin the year in the rotation.
  • Chris Snyder caught three innings and took several at-bats in a Minor League game at Pirate City on Tuesday. He is not in the lineup on Wednesday, but said he is doing fine.
  •  The following pitchers will throw in Thursday’s night game against the Orioles: Ross Ohlendorf (five or six innings), Evan Meek, Garrett Olson, Chris Leroux

Lineups:

PIRATES: J. Tabata (LF), N. Walker (2B), A. McCutchen (CF), L. Overbay (1B), M. Diaz (RF), P. Alvarez (3B), R. Doumit (C), R. Cedeno (SS), B. Burres (LHP)

Pitchers: B. Burres, E. Meek, C. Resop, M. Crotta, T. Yates

ASTROS: J. Bourgeois (CF), A. Sanchez (SS), H. Pence (RF), J. Michaels (LF), B. Wallace (1B), C. Johnson (3B), H. Quintero (C), A. Hernandez (2B), J.A. Happ (LHP)

Pitchers: J. Valdez, E. Del Rosario, G. Chacin, W. Wright, S. Wolf

Follow me on Twitter: @LangoschMLB

MLB.com’s Top 10 Pirates Prospects

Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

All month, MLB.com is slowly rolling out its Top 10 prospects list for each club. On Tuesday, Pittsburgh’s list was revealed. The full story is here for you to read more about each prospect. If you’re just looking for the list, it is as follows:

  1. RHP Jameson Taillon
  2. RHP Stetson Allie
  3. C Tony Sanchez
  4. LHP Rudy Owens
  5. RHP Bryan Morris
  6. RHP Luis Heredia
  7. LHP Jeff Locke
  8. OF Starling Marte
  9. RHP Zack Von Rosenberg
  10. LHP Colton Cain

You agree or disagree with any of the placements? Feel free to discuss…

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Bucs release Nieve

Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

The Pirates issued a statement this afternoon saying that they have granted right-hander Fernando Nieve his unconditional release. No other information was given.

The announcement comes one day after the Pirates reassigned Nieve to Minor League camp. He had been invited to Spring Training as a non-roster player and was in the mix for a bullpen spot.

Nieve, who spent the last two years in the Mets’ organization, allowed eight earned runs and 17 hits in 7 1/3 spring innings. He struck out eight and walked two.

Follow me on Twitter: @LangoschMLB

Twins 4, Pirates 1

Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

As I close out the day with a blog entry of notes, Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez is one of three players still on the field taking extra batting practice. (Josh Rodriguez and Josh Fields are the other two). The game has been over for an hour now, but Alvarez has been getting some hitting instruction from manager Clint Hurdle — the empahsis being on hitting breaking pitches.

As I have pointed out previously this spring, Alvarez’s work ethic has been phenomenal. He left the game after six innings on Monday and instead of getting out of the park ASAP as some do, Alvarez stuck around for extra work.

Now Alvarez has stopped hitting from the pitch machine and Hurdle is on the mound throwing to him.

***

Paul Maholm threw 96 pitches in his start on Monday, putting him right where he needs to be with one more start left before the regular season. Maholm did allow nine hits on Monday; eight were singles. Maybe most impressive, though, was his work in the fifth. After the Twins loaded the bases with none out, Maholm induced a double play groundball. Though a run scored on the play, it put Maholm in position to get out of the inning with no further damage.

“I think you get in it and just have to slow it down and make a pitch and get your groundball and hope it’s at a guy and we turn a double play,” Maholm said. “You’ve got to have confidence in your infielders.”

The Twins’ hitters worked the counts well against Maholm, particularly the top four hitters (who combined for seven hits off the lefty). But Maholm did well throwing inside, and there seems to be little concern about him not being ready by April 1.

“I thought he pitched well today,” Hurdle said. “He was aggressive with his fastball. He threw some good changeups. Paul will give up some hits now and again, but he was aggressive. He was pitching to contact. It was a good outing.”

***

Speaking of Maholm, the Pirates will name him or Kevin Correia the team’s Opening Day starter this week. Hurdle said the announcement will not come on the off day (Tuesday), but expect it on Wednesday or Thursday.

***

Not everyone on the team will have Tuesday off. Jose Ascanio is slated to throw two innings of batting practice (35 total pitches) to hitters. There will also be a “B” game of some sort, in which Sean Gallagher, Jeff Karstens and Daniel McCutchen are listed to pitch. Karstens is scheduled to go four innings.

The Pirates are building up both Karstens and Brian Burres (who will pitch four or five innings in Wednesday’s game) in case either is needed in the rotation at the beginning of the year. This could be a sign that James McDonald might miss one turn through the rotation to open the season.

***

Catcher Chris Snyder took multiple at-bats in Minor League games (yes, games is plural) on Monday. He jumped around to a few fields to get at-bats where they could be had. Snyder is expected to catch in a Minor League game on Tuesday.

Ryan Doumit and Ronny Cedeno also went over to Minor League camp to get at-bats on Monday.

***

Steve Pearce made his first spring appearance in left field and did so without any issue. He wasn’t all that busy out there, but he seemed to handle the new spot just fine. He has now played at every corner infield and outfield spot this spring.

“He’s done fine wherever we put him,” Hurdle said.

***

Catcher Jason Jaramillo had another hit, bringing his spring total to 11 in 22 at-bats. Keep in mind that it might not matter if Jaramillo hits 1.000 — if the Pirates elect to keep just two catchers, he won’t be able to make the Opening Day roster. But that hasn’t stopped Jaramillo from making every effort he can to impress.

Hurdle noted on Monday that Jaramillo’s pitch calling and defense have also improved as spring has progressed.

“He’s worked very hard,” Hurdle said. “It’s gotten better each time out. Handling the ball, receiving the balls, it’s cleaned up. He’s slowed the game down, which I think was the biggest thing early in the spring was that games were moving real quick for him behind the plate. He’s showed up very, very good. I think he’s in a confident place and he’s worked very, very hard.”

***

I’ve finished typing and Hurdle is still out throwing BP to Alvarez, Fields and Rodriguez. Coaches, including Bill Virdon in left field, are still shagging balls.

Anyways, tomorrow is an off day for the team, though you can look for MLB.com’s Top 10 Pirates prospect list to be released during the day.

As for today’s content, you can read here all about Scott Olsen’s situation and Charlie Morton’s position in the rotation. There will also be notes about Garrett Olson’s debut, Garrett Atkins’ decision to ask for his release, a slew of injury updates and something short about the morning’s other roster moves on the site later tonight.

And since I forgot to do it this morning, your latest NCAA bracket update has T. Coulter and E. Brosius leading the group. My bracket… not looking so good at the moment.

Follow me on Twitter: @LangoschMLB