Weekly Report: Cutch To Texas, Grapefruit Results, Nicolas-for-Callihan, Minor News, MLB Moves

The battles heat up…

Pirates Stuff: 

• The Pirates traded RHP Kyle Nicolas to the Reds for IF/OF Tyler Callihan. Nicholas split ’25 between Indy and the Bucs; he’s projected as a middle man due mainly to control problems that kept him at arms length from a backend role. The multi-positional Callihan (primarily 2B & 3B were his spots) was called up to the Reds in late April, but broke his arm a couple of weeks later to end his season.
• The Pirates optioned injured duo 3B Jack Brannigan (broken nose) and RHP Ryan Harbin (lat issues) to Indy.

Jack Brannigan – 2023 Topps

• The Pirates Spring Breakout roster was announced. This year, the prospect showcase will feature a round robin format and will run between March 19-22. The Bucs open by hosting the Tigers on the 20th.
• The Pitsburgh farm system was ranked third by MLB Pipeline. Here’s their list of the Top 30 Buc Prospects.
• It’s a sad day for the Bucco Nation – Cutch left town tafter signing a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers.

Camp Stuff:

• The Bucs kept rolling with a 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday. Young ‘uns Yordany De Los Santos and Javier Rivas went deep (back-to-back!) while Mike Clevinger was solid on the hill. In a Tuesday exhibition, the Pirates bopped Team Colombia, 7-1. Jose Urquidy was strong and Jake Mangum kept impressin’. Wednesday was an off day and on Thursday, the Cards beat the Bucs, 3-2. Alika William’s two-run HR was all the damage Buc attack could manage. 
• Friday was asplit squad, two-fer day and not a very good one for the Steel Ciy squads. The Phils outslugged the Corsairs, 14-10, while Jays clocked the Pirates, 9-2. The big scores were mainly due to minor league arms getting lit up -  the starter against the Phils, Bubba Chandler gave up a run in three frames with five K but a still worrisome three walks whle Braxton Ashcraft yielded two runs on three hits with five K in his three-inning start v the Blue Jays, The Bucs banged five HRs during the day, with Ryan O’Hearn, De Los Santos and a trio of pups each popping one over the fence.

Thomas Herrington – 2025 Topps Cosmic

• Pittsburgh rebounded with a 5-3 win on Saturday v the Tigers. Thomas Harrington threw four shutout frames, giving up two hits and a walk while fanning a pair after serving up a thrifty 44 pitches. Pirates pitching wasn’t very stellar on Sunday, but blasts by Billy Cook (three hits) and Nick Yorke (three-run shot) provided enough points for the Buccos to take a 9-7 victory from the BoSox.

WBC/MLB Stuff: 

• WBC: The USA won big over Brazil (15-5) and Britain (9-1) over the weekend to start their tourney run while Oneal Cruz impressed with a 450′ bomb for the Domincan Republic in their opening dub. On March 9, Skenes will be on the hill against Team Mexico at Daikin Park. If Team USA advances, he’ll be on schedule to pitch again in the quarterfinals as needed. He went three US exhibition innings v SF on Tuesday, giving up a run on a hit with four K.

Paul Skenes – 2026 Team USA image via MLB.com

• LHP Joey Wentz, who tossed here in 2024-25 (3-1/3.32) and finished the year with Atlanta, injured his knee as a result of a first-base collision in a spring game; the extent of the injury isn’t known yet.
• Oscar Marin, the Bucs former pitching coach, has signed on with the Cincy Reds as their bullpen coach.
• The Dodgers outrighted OF Jack Suwinski to AAA Oklahoma City on Monday. LA had claimed him from the Bucs recently, then DFA’ed him. He went unclaimed, so they could flip him from the 40-man list to a non-rostered depth player, the same ploy the Bucs were hoping to pull off.