Weekly Report: Bucs Have Good Week (5-2), WBC Gang About To Scatter, Fulmer Back, Pirates Notes, Ex-Buc Moves

 And the games begin…

Pirates Stuff: 

• Forget the latest “who’s on third” or “looking for a lefty” story line. Noah Hiles of the Post-Gazette reported (behind a paywall) that the team and Konnor Griffin are both interested in a long-term contract deal, one that could extend past his arb years but still allow for free agency by age 30. As they say, big if true.
• The Pirates signed RHP Carson Fulmer, 32, to a minor league contract as a depth piece. It’s his fourth go-around in the org; he spent some time at Indy early last year before finishing the campaign with the LA Angels. He was on Pgh’s MLB roster briefly in 2020, but hasn’t worked for the big-league Bucs yet.

Ronny Simon – 2025 Topps Update

• IF/OF Ronny Simon, recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, will start BP shortly to be followed by field drills and is expected to be ready to take part in game rehab roughly by the start of the season. 
• The Pittsburgh Pirates will face Freddy Peralta when they open against the New York Mets on March 26, per NY manager Carlos Mendoza. Don Kelly has been mum, but we’d guess Paul Skenes is his likely choice.

Camp Stuff:

• The week started off slowly; Bubba Chandler couldn’t find the strike zone and the Yankees topped the Bucs, 6-2, on Monday. On the plus side, the Pirates banged out 10 hits and Gregory Soto fanned three in two frames. The Pirates romped against the Bosox on Tuesday, taking a 16-7 football score dub. Konnor Griffin homered twice and Yordany Ramirez went deep once; seven guys had multiple hits. Griff’s reward was to be bopped in the foot the next day and taken out after the inning, but he appeared in pretty fine fettle afterward so presumably it was a precautionary move. Wednesday was a 3-1 loss to the Bravos; Paul Skenes walked four in 2-1/3 IP. In Thursday’s game, the Pirates beat the Twins, 6-4, thx to Shawn Ross’s two-run eighth-inning homer. Back-end contender Jose Urquidy made his debut and was treated rudely, giving up three runs in 1-1/3 IP. In justice, like Skenes yesterday, the back two runs were allowed by their relievers.

Mitch Keller – 2026 image/Pirates

• The Pirates kept rollin’ to open the weekend, whipping the O’s 6-1 on Friday. Mitch Keller started and K’ed four in 2-1/3 shutout IP to kick off what was basically a bullpen game for the staff. The Bucs beat the Astros, 5-2, in six innings (rain claimed the final three frames) on Saturday. Braxton Ashcraft was sharp while Bubba Chandler again struggled with control, The game’s big blow was Oneil Cruz’s three-run bomb. The Corsairs closed out the red-hot week with a 6-1 dub over the Cards; Griffin and Jhostynxon Garcia homered while Hunter Barco worked three strong frames.
• 3B prospect Jack Brannigan suffered a broken nose when a grounder on Sunday took a bad hop and bopped him in the face. He’ll be further examined this week for orbital bone damage before treatment and a return date are determined. Brannigan was part of the 3B mix and his injury throws a snag into hot corner depth and perhaps the FO’s plan to man the position internally.

Jack Brannigan – 2022 Bowman’s First

• Camp’s gonna be a little quieter next week as a dozen players head off to the WBC: RHP Paul Skenes (USA); IF Oneil Cruz, RHP Dennis Santana & LHP Gregory Soto (Dominican Republic); IF Nick Gonzales (Mexico); RHP Kyle Nicolas, RHP Alessandro Ercolani & LHP Joe La Sorsa (Italy); RHP Antwone Kelly (Netherlands); RHP Emmanuel Chapman (Cuba); RHP Po-Yu Chen (Chinese Taipei); and RHP Pietro Albanez (Brazil). RHP José Urquidy (Mexico) and LHP Oddanier Mosqueda (Venezuela) were picked to play for their homelands but are remaining at camp as Urquidy, back from injury, wanted to stay on track in his effort for a backend spot and Mosqueda has a sore arm. 

MLB Stuff:

• The KC Royals have agreed to a deal with OF Starling Marte, per reports, pending his physical.
• RHP Brent Honeywell Jr. was signed by the Giants. He spent a blink of the eye here in ’24 before being lost on waivers to the LADs. Brent got a ring there and then was released after the Series. He sat out 2025.
• Former Pirates (2000) RHP Dan Serafini was sentenced to life w/o parole for killing his father-in-law and shooting his mother-in-law.