Skenes, Johnson Headline Pirates’ Spring Breakout Roster vs. Holliday, Orioles

Major League Baseball implemented spring breakout games for the first time this spring training. All 30 teams in the league will play exhibition games with rosters consisting of strictly prospects to highlight the game’s future.

For the Pittsburgh Pirates, they will face the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, Mar. 14 at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla.

Four of the Pirates’ top five prospects are on the roster for the game — right-hander Paul Skenes, second baseman Termarr Johnson and pitchers Anthony Solometo and Bubba Chandler.

In total, 21 of Pittsburgh’s top 30 prospects will suit up for the game against the Orioles, including a handful not in big-league camp with the Pirates.

Among the other notable prospects competing in the event for the Pirates include pitchers Thomas Harrington and Braxton Ashcraft along with position players Mitch Jebb, Tsung-Che Cheng and Jack Brannigan.

The matchup with the Orioles is particularly intriguing. Baltimore has one of the best farm systems in baseball.

Among the Orioles’ rich mix of farmhands is top-ranked prospect Jackson Holliday, who is one of the players on the roster for Baltimore. Holliday was selected by the Orioles with the first pick in the 2022 draft.

With Holliday and Skenes included on their respective organization’s roster, another battle is set between the game’s top position-player prospect and top pitching prospect. The two matched up earlier in spring training during a Grapefruit League game. Skenes induced a groundout against Holliday in their first-ever duel.

In addition to Holliday, the Orioles will have two other top-100 prospects in catcher Samuel Basallo and infielder Coby Mayo.

The full roster for the Pittsburgh Pirates can be found HERE. Baltimore’s can be found HERE.