PBN Around the Horn: 5 Things to Hold Out Hope For and More

Welcome to the PBN Around the Horn. Here you’ll find news and notes from across Major League Baseball, your Pittsburgh Pirates, and around the Sports Now network.

Since today is an off day for our Buccos, today’s around the horn will be slightly different. Today we will talk about five things to hold out hope for; there won’t be an in-depth piece on why there’s a reason to be hopeful, just little nuggets to chew on during the off day.

1. The starting rotation will get better. With pitchers like Miguel Yajure and Roansy Contreras right on the cusp of the majors, reinforcements are coming.
2. With Bryan Reynolds, Ke’Bryan Hayes, and a mix of other players, the lineup will provide consistent offense eventually. In an offense that hasn’t lived up to snuff as of yet, both Reynolds and Hayes continue to shine.
3. Ben Cherington knows what he’s doing. Cherington has built this farm system up into one of the best in a short amount of time and has addressed several needs like the catcher position.
4. There will be more power bats in the next few waves of call ups. With prospects like Mason Martin, Matt Fraizer, O’Neil Cruz, and a few others, one would think that not only is speed going to be evident, but power is as well.
5. Two years of growth and rebuilding is better than 20 more years of mediocrity. This one is self explanatory.

All of these sound so simple and, for the most part, obvious, but I think all of us need to take a page out of Occam’s Razor or a personal favorite, the K.I.S.S method. Maybe when tomorrow comes, you will have a different outlook, maybe not, but these five things are something to think on.

UPDATE (1:21 PM) This is not a repeat update, Lonnie White has doubled again and has gone 2-2 with 2 doubles thus far.

UPDATE (12:38 p.m) Lonnie White Jr. has doubled in his first pro at bat, and Bubba Chandler is starting at SS for the first time in his pro career.

Pittsburgh Baseball Now Notes 

Brubaker struggles in L.A. as the Pirates fall short

The 2022 spring training schedule has been released! 

Hopefully, we see these two players get the call to the majors

Pirates Prospects Notes

John Dreker had us covered in all of the prospects yesterday. There was yet another walk-off winner Wednesday night and some shaky starts by pitchers. Find out all of the news in Wednesday’s prospect watch.

Around the Network 

Steelers Now- James Washington stands out in training camp.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now- Malkin and Letang contract talks easier now?

Pittsburgh Sports Now- Sights and sounds around Pitt FB practice.

WVU Sports Now- Three freshmen looking to make an impact for WVU FB

Nittany Sports Now- Which PSU FB players are you most excited for?

Pittsburgh Soccer Now- Riverhounds force a draw against Rowdies.