Mark Kabaly

Jason Mackey with us.

He covers the Pirates for the Post-Gazette.

He is in Bradenton.

Spring training games get underway on Saturday.

Jason, another move that I think they need to make, and we've had this conversation throughout the break between seasons, throughout the offseason, a left-handed starting pitcher, something that has become a staple of Ben Charrington's tenure here.

They still haven't made a move there, and the pickings are getting quite slim in that market.

Does Hunter Barco eventually work his way into there?

I know that he had a very, very brief stint at the end of 2025, but he does have the benefit of being a lefty, that he could maybe change the pace a little bit.

They really want to keep pushing the Carmen Majinski starting pitcher thing.

You mentioned the 7, 8, 9 guys.

We can safely assume Dennis Santana will be that ninth inning guy.

He will be the closer.

What does it look like, or what do you think it will look like in seventh and eighth?

You brought up Justin Lawrence there, and I did want to ask about him because I thought to myself yesterday,

Like, am I nuts here?

Because the guy historically hasn't had great numbers in the majors, but his brief stint before injury last season, he looked really good.

I just feel like the guy had great stuff.

I mean, did that come out of nowhere?

Is that something we can expect more of?

Like, I liked what I saw from a guy that, what, has a career ERA of, like, six?