BRADENTON, Fla. – The Juan Nicasio bandwagon is leaving the station.
Almost two weeks ago, I wrote that Nicasio looked like the typical Ray Searage reclamation project, even more so than Ryan Vogelsong or Jon Niese, who were the starting pitching options brought in this off-season. Nicasio didn’t look like he was guaranteed for success — and for that matter, neither did guys like Edinson Volquez or J.A. Happ — but he had much better stuff than the other guys.
The Pirates saw things they liked from Nicasio in Colorado, even though his numbers as a starter weren’t good (and that’s after removing the Coors Field effect).