BRADENTON, Fla. – What hurts worse? Getting tackled by an NFL linebacker or getting hit with a baseball thrown at 99 MPH?
Pirates’ outfield prospect Tyler Gaffney knows the answer all too well.
“What do you think is worse? Getting hit by a 260 pound man or one little white ball?” Gaffney said knowingly while talking to him the other day. “Getting hit by a full-grown man? Probably.”
Gaffney has experienced both sides of that debate way too often. He played one season with the Pirates in 2012, playing for the State College Spikes in short-season A-ball, just after being drafted out of college in the 24th round.