Pirates Spring Preview: Quinn Priester Welcomes Tigers to Bradenton

The Pittsburgh Pirates earned their first spring training victory on Tuesday afternoon and will look to make it two in a row on Wednesday when they host the Detroit Tigers at LECOM Park at 1:05 ET.

Getting the start for the Pirates (1-3) will be right-hander Quinn Priester, who is making his spring debut as he faces a competition for an open rotation spot.

Priester, the Pirates’ first-round pick in 2019, made his major-league debut last season. The right-hander dealt with the growing pains and wrapped up his rookie campaign with a 3-3 record and a 7.74 ERA in 10 games/eight starts.

Aroldis Chapman will make his first appearance of the spring as one of the Pirates’ probable pitchers following Priester.

Nick Gonzales will get another shot to try and earn a roster spot as the Pirates’ designated hitter against the Tigers. Gilberto Celestino has started hot this spring (3 for 7) and is again in the lineup, batting cleanup and manning right field.

Pittsburgh Pirates Lineup

1. Nick Gonzales DH
2. Jared Triolo 3B
3. Connor Joe 1B
4. Gilberto Celestino RF
5. Jason Delay C
6. Ji Hwan Bae CF
7. Alika Williams SS
8. Billy McKinney
9. Tsung-Che Cheng SS

Detroit (2-2) will send out left-hander Tarik Skubal agaisnt Pittsburgh. Skubal returned from injury last season and went 7-3 with a sensational 2.80 ERA to go along with 102 strikeouts in 80.1 innings pitched across 15 starts.

The game will be available to be watched as a webcast on pirates.com.

PBN LINKS

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