Pittsburgh Pirates: Sands, Taillon among first set of roster cuts
By Matt Shetler
With just about two weeks before Opening Day, the Pittsburgh Pirates finally got around to making their first roster cuts of the spring with some familiar names among the first to go, most notably Jameson Taillon and Jerry Sands.
Taillon, who looked very good pitching for Team Canada on Sunday in the World Baseball Classic, was one of five players assigned to minor league camp.
Feb 12, 2013; Bradenton, FL, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Jerry Sands walks to the field during a workout session for spring training at Pirate City. Mandatory Credit: Douglas Jones-USA TODAY Sports
In addition to Taillon, the others assigned included: Erik Cordier, Darren Ford, Matt Hague and Anderson Hernandez.
Hague had a huge spring last year and made the team out of camp, but the infield is very crowded right now so he didn’t have much of a chance.
Maybe the biggest thing is that Sands is ticketed for Triple-A already, which was likely anyway.
The “prize” of the Joel Hanrahan trade did not look good at the plate in the spring thus far, getting only four hits in 22 at bats (all singles) and earned himself a quick demotion, along with the likes of: Vic Black, Stolmy Pimentel, Clint Robinson, Hunter Strickland and Duke Welker.
Pimentel- also acquired in the Hanrahan trade- was impressive in his two outings, as was Strickland, who didn’t allow a run in four innings of work.
With two weeks left in camp, the cuts will start happening more frequently although there are only a couple jobs really up for grabs.