BRADENTON – Justin Masterson heard the stories about how good the Pirates have been rehabbing pitchers and getting them back to their prior success. He had friends encouraging him to join the Pirates this off-season, pointing to their past success and his current situation — now healthy after arthroscopic right shoulder surgery in September.
“It’s hard to not see [their success] when you’re around the game, to not hear whether the true stories and the folklore, and finding the mix between the two. Without a doubt, that was a part of it,” Masterson said on what led to him signing with the Pirates.