Pittsburgh

Pirates

That’s as many walks as he had in 31 1/3 innings as a major leaguer last year. Chandler had an easy eight-pitch first inning, but he walked the first two in the second, rebounded to get two outs and then walked two more, leading to his exit with one run in and the bases loaded. All three inherited runners came around to score afterwards. Chandler topped out at 100.6 mph today, so his stuff is already there. He’s dealt with control issues in the minors, though, and it was a major surprise just how successful he was in that department during his 2025 major league audition. He’s currently a very good bet to secure a spot in Pittsburgh’s rotation, but another outing with this kind of wildness might change things.

Simon was non-tendered by the Pirates at the end of November, which is less than four months ago, and means the Pirates knew that at the time of that decision. He was then re-signed to a minor league deal in December, which cleared a spot on the 40-man roster. Simon is already swinging in the cage and could get into game action in early April, but he will likely start the season on the injured list.

Jones underwent UCL surgery with an internal brace on May 21st of last year, so Tomczyk’s statement would imply that the Pirates are hoping that he returns to their rotation at the end of May. The wording “major league game ready” also implies that Jones will have been pitching games in the minor leagues before then, and Tomczyk also reported that Jones felt good after his live batting practice this weekend. All of that means that Jones could be pitching in minor league games as early as April with the hope of joining the Pirates’ rotation by the end of May. If you’re playing in leagues with an IL spot, that’s enough to make him worth a late-round pick.

After a solid 2024 season in a hybrid role for the Angels, Fulmer regressed in 2025, pitching to a 5.83 ERA and 26/11 K/BB ratio in 29 1/3 innings out of the bullpen. He seems like a long shot to break camp with the Pirates.

Reynolds didn’t have any runs or RBI, though, as he was removed for a pinch-runner before Tony Blanco Jr. came around to score in his place in the fifth. Reynolds might be a little underrated for fantasy purposes at this point, in part because he’ll have an improved supporting cast this year. He definitely figures to top last year’s marks of 68 runs scored and 73 RBI in 654 plate appearances.

Keller’s velocity was pretty much at his 2025 norms, and he went without allowing a hard-hit ball today. He’s been pretty much written off as a mixed-league starter at this point, and there are some good reasons for that. Still, his ballpark is favorable and he’s due some more offensive support this year; if he could get his strikeout rate back up, he wouldn’t be hopeless.

Brannigan is currently being examined for further injury.. Brannigan is competing for one of the final spots on the roster as a potential utility player after having his contract selected in November to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.

Valdez’s slam off Jack Dallas was a 361-foot, opposite-field liner that left his bat at 106.7 mph. An intriguing outfield prospect, Valdez was added to the Pirates’ 40-man roster in November after hitting .286/.376/.520 between High-A and Double-A last year. He’ll likely return to Double-A to open this year, and his chances of getting a look in the second half could hinge on the performance of Jhostynxon Garcia, a rather similar prospect who is clearly ahead of him on the depth chart at this point.

Kyle Schwarber homered off him in the first, but none of the remaining three hits Ashcraft allowed did any damage. After finishing with a 2.78 ERA in eight starts and 18 relief appearances last season, Ashcraft is in strong position to claim a spot in the Pirates rotation this spring. He gets enough strikeouts and grounders to potentially be of some use in mixed leagues.

Griffin, widely viewed as the game’s No. 1 prospect, had a weak groundout in his first at-bat, but his remaining two balls in play were a 105.6-mph, 397-foot fly to center and a 109.1-mph lineout to right field. Griffin will likely need a pretty spectacular spring to make the Pirates. This won’t help the statline, but it was a good day for the 19-year-old.