Kevin Gorman

And he's only 19 years old and he's not played above double A.

I w I would say when you see the guys come back from the WBC and some will be coming back sooner than others.

I don't know how Nick Gonzalez might have a chance with Team Mexico, but some of these guys are going to be coming back.

I think you're going to get a better understanding of what this lineup is going to look like because I think some of these guys, whether it's Triolo or Nick York, are going to get long looks at certain positions, but I think we already know that first base is either going to be Ryan O'Hearn or Spencer Horwitz.

Second base is going to be Brandon Lau, and the way things look right now,

Jared Trujillo could be at third base, although he could play shortstop and they could try Gonzalez or York or, and Manuel Valdez at third base.

I think when the WBC is over and the team is back together, I think we'll have a pretty good idea at that point.

It'll be mid-March.

I think it's interesting that the pirates didn't say from the very beginning that Connor Griffin was going to start the season in the minors, like they did with Paul schemes.

They were very upfront about that with Connor Griffin, you know, it was leaked out to the national writers.

that they were going to give him a chance to compete.

It was very obvious from the first day of camp that this is a guy who belonged physically.

Now, whether he can handle the grind, he played 122 games last year across three levels, whether he can handle the grind of the travel, which is a big difference.

In the minor leagues, you play six games, you're off every Monday, and you don't travel during the week.

You play six games at home, then six games away.

So the travel is going to be a grind.

The season is going to be a grind.

And talking to Isaiah Conner-Falefa last year, playing shortstop and playing defense at a high level can really take away from a shortstop's offensive game.

And so that's something the Pirates have to consider.

Do they want Connor Griffin to be a guy who's an impact player with his bat?