Monday: Pirates Open At Cincy, Brubaker v De Leon; Kyle Keller Added, Santana DFA'ed

Today’s Game: The Pirates open a three-game set against the Cincy Reds at GABP. First pitch is at 6:40 and the contest will be on AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B; Phil Evans 3B; Bryan Reynolds LF; Colin Moran 1B; Erik Gonzalez SS; Gregory Polanco RF; Jake Stallings C; Dustin Fowler CF; JT Brubaker P. Erik Gonzalez batting fifth and Kevin Newman on the bench?

Pitchers: RHP JT Brubaker meets RHP Jose De Leon. JT’s last outing of the spring was solid and he’s looking to make his case as a big league rotation arm. He started twice against Chi-Town last year was put up a strong 1-1/1.84 line. De Leon is a spot starter, as Cincy has three guys down (Sonny Gray, Mike Lorenzen and Tejay Antone), so he’s keeping their seats warm. He’s only got 13 MLB outings with an 8.49 ERA, and faced the Pirates once last year, pitching a scoreless frame with two walks.

Notes:

• The Pirates bought RHP Kyle Keller, 27, from the Angels after he was DFA’ed and assigned him to the alternate training camp; RHP Edgar Santana was DFA’ed to clear a 40-man spot for KK. Keller, a bullpen depth pickup, made 10 relief appearances for the Miami Marlins in 2019 and had two outings with the Angels in 2020. He has no decisions with a 4.15 ERA, 12 strikeouts and 10 walks in 13 MLB innings. He features a forkball; maybe Ben Cherington is trying to channel ElRoy Face.
• The Clemente Museum will sponsor a spring party in its parking lot on Saturday, April 10th from 11-2.

Tomorrow’s Game: The middle match begins at 6:40 and will be on AT&T SportsNet PIT2 & 93.7 The Fan. RHP Trevor Cahill will take on LHP Wade Miley.