BRADENTON, Fla. — Trevor Williams and Chad Kuhl will start the second and third games of the Pirates’ regular season, manager Clint Hurdle said Friday. The games take place March 31 and April 1 against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
In addition, Hurdle anticipates that Joe Musgrove will make his Pirates regular season debut during the Cincinnati Reds series at PNC Park (April 5-8). Steven Brault and Tyler Glasnow will start the season in the bullpen, as the Pirates previously indicated.
The news does not come as a surprise, as Williams made his most recent Grapefruit League start on Wednesday, 10 days before the second game of the season. In a similar vein, Kuhl started Thursday’s Grapefruit League game. Musgrove’s throwing regimen this spring was delayed by a mild shoulder injury.
Ivan Nova previously was named the Pirates’ opening day starter. Jameson Taillon will get the ball for the home opener against the Minnesota Twins on April 2.
NOTE: Outfielder Daniel Nava reached a new minor-league deal with the Pirates, a Pirates spokesman said. Nava, who has been recovering from back surgery, had been briefly released by the team, apparently to restructure his contract. He was back in the LECOM Park clubhouse on Friday.
Elizabeth Bloom: ebloom@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1750 and Twitter: @BloomPG.
First Published: March 23, 2018, 9:17 p.m.
