PITTSBURGH — Pirates lefty Steven Brault spent the entirety of Spring Training working as a starting pitcher.
That made sense, after all. Brault has been a starter for almost all of his professional career. Of his 128 career professional appearances, 116 of the them have come as a starter.
But for almost the entire spring, while Brault was getting ready as a starter, he knew that he was likely going to start the 2018 season in the Pirates’ bullpen.
The Pirates set the starting rotation before Spring Training games even began, with Joe Musgrove joining returning starters Chad Kuhl, Ivan Nova, Jameson Taillon, and Trevor Williams.