Notes: Big Joe Surgery; Barkett on the Radar; Eovaldi, Clint, Littlefield & Cole Train

Another week of Bucco blurbs…

• Joe Musgrove had abdominal surgery today; so much for rest as a cure. The Pirates said that “A typical recovery time frame from this type of surgery that would allow an athlete to participate in full off-season training activities is approximately six weeks. We anticipate Joe will be on or close to a regular schedule for 2019 Major League Spring Training.” You may recall the Big Joe didn’t start 2018 until late May because of a shoulder injury; this doesn’t appear to be something that would bump him back that far, if at all, this year.

• Andy Barkett, former Indy skipper, Bucco minor league hitting coordinator and current assistant batting coach at Boston, is reportedly on the Pirates list of potential hitting coaches to replace Jeff Branson. There’s also a chance Jeff Banister could return to the staff, largely depending if bench coach Tom Prince lands a managing gig.
• Another tire-kick free agent: Don’t be surprised to see the Bucs size up RHP Nathan Eovaldi of Boston; they were said to be interested in him both last offseason and at this year’s deadline. He was just 6-7/3.81 during the regular season, but is a power pitcher, which fits into the Pirates recent trend, who averages 97 on his heater with 8K/nine innings.
• ESPN had a panel select the top 50 coaches in four major North American pro sports; Clint made the list barely, behind Mike Sullivan of the Pens and Mike Tomlin of the Steelers. The article said “Hurdle is well respected in baseball circles and among players — he’s not viewed as being on the rise but will have a role in the game as long as he wants one.”
• Kinda odd rumor: Marc Carig of The Athletic NY tweeted that Dave Littlefield interviewed for the Mets GM job. He’s currently the Detroit Tigers VP of Player Development.
• Sunday night’s Astro-Red Sox battle featured the first-ever matchup of number one overall draft picks – 2011′s numero uno, Gerrit Cole, and 2007′s top gun, David Price – to start against one another in the postseason. Neither was taken by their current team. Cole, of course, was the Buccos’ selection, and Price was chosen by Tampa Bay. As for the game, well, both sides could have called up AAA guys; it was 5-4 after three frames, with the Bosox eventually taking home a 7-5 win. The matchup won’t happen again this postseason; Boston eliminated Houston.