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Pirates’ Harrison looking for healthy, productive 2017

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Josh Harrison knew his surgically repaired thumb was finally ready to handle the rigors of a full baseball season when it passed the Mia test. The Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman tore a ligament in his left thumb in July 2015. Surgery fixed the damage, but Harrison’s hand often felt weak and stiff last season. This past winter, as he played with Mia, his 3-year-old daughter, Harrison realized he was fully recovered. “I had a normal offseason,” Harrison said. “I played with my daughter and could throw her in the air. I didn’t have to have (to ...

Pirates’ Kang attends trial for drunk driving

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang appeared in a South Korean court on Wednesday as judges heard arguments in a trial over charges that he fled the scene after slamming a car into a guardrail while driving under the influence of alcohol. A friend of Kang’s also attended the hearing at Seoul Central District Court after being charged for falsely telling police that he, not Kang, was driving the vehicle. The court said it will make a ruling on both men on March 3. It’s not immediately clear when Kang will be able to join the Pirates for the new ...

Marte ready to take over in CF for Pirates

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Starling Marte, the guy displacing Andrew McCutchen in center field for the Pittsburgh Pirates this year, hasn’t played the position regularly since the minor leagues. Since making his big league debut in 2012, Marte has made all but 42 of his 544 starts in left. An NL Gold Glove winner the past two years, Marte is being shifted by manager Clint Hurdle. “I have a lot of experience playing center field,” Marte said through translator Mike Gonzalez. “When they moved me to left field when I came up, I was fine with that decision and gave the best that I ...

Healthy Neil Walker happy to be with Mets

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — New York Mets second baseman Neil Walker dealt with back issues for almost five years and said not a day went by when he didn’t feel some kind of pain. “I’d probably wake up every single morning and as soon as I’d throw my feet over the side of bed, I could tell whether it was going to be a good or bad day,” Walker said on Wednesday at the Mets’ training camp. Walker now says he has no reason to tiptoe around for fear of hurting his back after having surgery last September to repair a herniated disk. “About three days after surgery when ...

Pirates’ McCutchen to play in Classic

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Miami slugger Giancarlo Stanton and Baltimore star Adam Jones are among the returnees on the 28-man U.S. World Baseball Classic roster, which also includes Colorado’s Nolan Arenado, Arizona’s Paul Goldschmidt, San Francisco’s Buster Posey and Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen. Cleveland reliever Andrew Miller is part of a 13-man pitching staff that also has Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer, Kansas City’s Danny Duffy, Detroit’s Michael Fulmer, Oakland’s Sonny Gray, Toronto’s J.A. Happ and Marcus Stroman and Seattle’s Drew Smyly. The roster announced ...

Bucco Banter 2017 – The Opening Show

This is the opening show for Bucco Banter 2017. The gang talk about the pre-season Pittsburgh Pirates activity and share a phone conversation with a special (evil) guest.