PITTSBURGH PIRATES GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE GAME 11

CHRIS ARCHER’S SPRING DEBUT

One of the most important members of the 2019 Pittsburgh Pirates will make their first start of Grapefruit League play on Tuesday afternoon

The Grapefruit League schedule continues for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday afternoon. In their 11th game of the spring, the Bucs will travel to Sarasota to do battle against the Baltimore Orioles.

In Tuesday’s game, starting pitcher Chris Archer will make his spring debut for the Pirates. The Orioles are a team that Archer is very familiar with. This is due to spending the first six and a half years of his MLB career in the American League East with the Tampa Bay Rays.

This will be Archer’s first game action of any sort since undergoing hernia surgery in November. At the time neither Archer nor the Pirates were worried about the surgery, and Archer said he fully expects to be 100% by the start of the regular season. He is currently scheduled to pitch the team’s home opener on April 1st against the St. Louis Cardinals.

After Archer’s two innings of work, four more pitchers are scheduled to pitch.

Steven Brault, who is competing for the team’s fifth and final rotation spot, will follow Archer by making his third appearance of the spring. Brault will be looking to bounce back from a disaster in his last outing. Against the Yankees last Thursday, Brault allowed four runs on three hits, four walks, and a home run. He pitched into the second inning in this start, but failed to record an out in the inning.

Right now, Brault appears ticketed for Triple-A Indianapolis to begin the season.

In addition to Brault, Michael Feliz, Tyler Lyons, and Keone Kela are scheduled to pitch as well. Feliz and Lyons are both battling for a spot in the bullpen, while Kela is entrenched as Felipe Vazquez‘s setup man.

Feliz, who started 2018 as Vazquez’s setup man before struggles led to him being optioned to Triple-A, has walked a pair and struck out three in 4 scoreless innings of work this spring. As for Lyons, the veteran lefty posted a zero while working around a hit and a walk in his lone outing of the spring. While Feliz will likely start the season at Triple-A, Lyons has a legitimate shot at earning a spot in the Opening Day bullpen.

First pitch for Tuesday’s contest is scheduled for 1:05 PM. You can listen to the game on pirates.com, as well as the MLB At Bat App.