PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — The Pirates fell on the road to the Rays in Grapefruit League action by a final score of 5-2 on Wednesday afternoon. Zack Littell was the game’s winning pitcher, while Andrew Heaney suffered the loss. Pete Fairbanks came on in the final inning to earn the save for Tampa Bay. Here are the Post-Gazette’s three takeaways from the contest:
Heaney looks better
In what has been a rough spring for Andrew Heaney, the veteran left-hander looked much better Wednesday, surrendering three earned runs on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts over 4⅓ innings. The outing was Heaney’s longest of the spring, as he joined the rest of the Pirates rotation, who have all now pitched into the fifth inning.
"A lot better today,” Heaney said. “A couple mechanical things, made an adjustment before my last start. Felt a little bit better that time. This time, it feels like it was more consistent, more comfortable. Now it's about trusting that and letting stuff work through the zone.”
While his struggles have looked ugly on paper, Heaney, as previously noted, has been hit hard in spring training throughout his career. Manager Derek Shelton pointed out prior to Wednesday’s game that pitchers similar to Heaney — soft-tossing lefties — typically take a bit longer to find their footing in the preseason.
“I think guys like that, the pitch-to control left-handers, it takes a while to get that feel to pitch,” Shelton said. “The other thing that makes those guys effective is being able to go multiple times, being able to mix and match. When you’re working on things in spring, you don’t get as much time to work on that process.”
Behind at the start of spring training due to signing with the club in late February, Heaney said following Wednesday’s outing he now feels at a place he should be at this time in the preseason.
“I'd say today is the first day I felt like, ‘OK, I feel pretty close to where I would normally feel at this time of camp,’ ” Heaney said. “I think I have one more start before the start of the season, which is, I feel, kind of perfect for me. Take the feels and everything I have today and try to do that every single pitch, and I feel like I'll be right where I want to be.”
Aye Bae Bae
Ji Hwan Bae continued his tear on Grapefruit League pitching Wednesday afternoon, going 2 for 3 with a walk, a pair of doubles and a run scored against the Rays. Bae leads the Pirates this spring with 16 hits and is now slashing .444/.474/.694 in 17 games. Despite his consistent production, it’s fair to wonder just how Bae makes this year’s opening day roster. He has not seen any time in the infield this spring, and with the three starting outfield jobs already determined, he at best is competing to be the first outfielder off the bench.
Even that role, however, looks to be a tight race, as Jack Suwinski, another left-handed bat, is also having a strong spring, batting .371 with a 1.025 OPS in 12 spring training games. Should those two be the final candidates, one would figure Suwinski would have the edge, as he boasts more natural power, something the Pirates lineup will need in 2025. But if the Pirates are committed to playing more small ball this season under a new hitting group led by first-year coach Matt Hague, Bae could make for a better option and make the opening day roster for the second time in the past three seasons.
Hold this K
While the bulk of the back-end bullpen conversation has revolved around David Bednar and whether Shelton will name him the club’s official closer to start the regular season, quietly performing under the radar has been Colin Holderman, who recorded a pair of strikeouts in his ⅔ of an inning Wednesday against the Rays.
Holderman has now made seven appearances in Grapefruit League play and hasn’t allowed a run since Feb. 25, which was his first outing. He has recorded two strikeouts in each of his past three outings, tallying nine total in 6⅔ innings of work. Should Bednar not be the club’s closer, Holderman, who was the team’s eighth-inning man last year, could be a replacement.
Up next
The Pirates will be off Thursday and return to action Friday, as they hit the road to Fort Myers, Fla., to face the Red Sox at JetBlue Park. Right-hander Mitch Keller will pitch for Pittsburgh. Boston’s pitcher has yet to be announced. First pitch for the contest is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. Fans can listen to the game on KDKA Radio 100.1 FM & AM 1020. The game will also be televised on SportsNet Pittsburgh Plus.
First Published: March 19, 2025, 7:28 p.m.
Updated: March 20, 2025, 1:38 p.m.
