Pirates Trevor Williams is waiting out MLB's coronavirus shutdown in his native San Diego with his wife,Jackie, and their young family - a 4-year old, an infant and a newborn. So, even though Williams would rather be pitching, it hasn't been the worst thing in the world to have a full-time dad around to help out. It's also a nice coincidence that Williams and new pitching coach Oscar Marin are neighbors so they have been able to get some work in together. Williams says he's in reasonably good throwing shape and is anxious to start the season whenever and wherever but only when it's safe to do so. Trevor joined me Saturday afternoon on 93.7 The Fan.

Jameson Taillon has never lived up to the billing of second overall draft pick - after Bryce Harper and before Manny Machado- but it's really through no fault of his own. Here is what's he has endured - Tommy John surgery in 2014, sports hernia in 2015, testicular cancer in 2017, and after finally having an injury-free 2018 in which he was one of the best in MLB the second half of the season, he suffered a forearm injury in 2019. Further examination showed he needed a second Tommy John, so he won't pitch again until 2021.

But he is already well into rehab, which he has has changed quite a bit since his first TJ rehab 6 years ago. He also gives high marks to pitching coach Oscar Marin and his innovations.

With the second off day coming up Wednesday, the Pirates are at the unofficial halfway points of the Grapefruit League schedule and Thursday will mark 2 weeks until Opening Day in St. Petersburg. So I figured this was a good time get a progress report from Derek Shelton. Among the topics: how he's adjusting to being a manager, getting as much input from as many people as he can -his coaches, opposing managers, the analytics people, and his players (which is something a little different for them), how Oscar Marin's pitching program is being received, which players has impressed him the most (it's an important one) and I even learned a new term - "informatics."

With his flowing blond locks on an athletic 6-4 frame, 24-year Blake Cederlind certainly looks the part and when he hits triple digits on the radar gun (which he did several times in Grapefruit League games) that only hammers the point home. After starting out last season in Bradenton, Cederlind quickly moved up to Altoona and got a late-season look in AAA. Even though he did not allow a hit in 5 appearances and struck out 9 in 4-and-a-two-thirds innings, Cederlind was among the first round of cuts Monday. But that doesn't mean the Pirates think any less of him and after spending more time with his mentor, bullpen coach Joel Hanrahan who moves up to Indianapolis, Cederlind could find himself in the majors later this year. I had chatted with him over the weekend

After emerging as a late-inning set-up man in 2018, Kyle Crick regressed in 2019. Not only did his performance suffer after a 3-game MLB suspension following an incident with a coach, Crick then suffered a hand injury when he punched Felipe Vasquez in a clubhouse fight September 9th, thus ending a forgettable season. After off-season rehab, a wiser and more confident Crick is back and pitching well so far, looking to (re)claim the 8th inning role. A lot of good stuff here.

In Joel Hanrahan's 3-and-a-half seasons with the Pirates he never really struck me as a future coach. After not doing much in Washington, the hard-throwing Hanrahan had his two best seasons with the Pirates, posting 40 saves in 2011 and 36 in 2012 before being traded to the Red Sox and shortly thereafter arm trouble ended his career. I always kind of figured Hanrahan would go back to his native Iowa and, as the great Chuck Noll would say, get on with his life's work. But it turns out his life's work has brought him back to the Pirates organization and this season Hanrahan will serve as the bullpen coach in AAA Indianapolis.

Neil Walker's Pittsburgh Kid nickname no longer com play LFpletely fits. At 34, he is far from a "kid" and, while he won't be selling his north hills home anytime soon, Walker is now longer "Pittsburgh" during the baseball season; in fact, he is now on his 6th team since 2016 - Mets, Yankees, Brewers, Marlins and now he's trying to latch on with the Phillies. He has company - Andrew McCutchen, Josh Harrison and Francisco Liriano are other members of the Pirates' 98-win 2015 team. Walker is in camp on a minor league contract so he's not guaranteed a spot which is why he has already played 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, is scheduled to play left field Thursday. The new 26-man roster will help but, as he says, after over 9 seasons in the majors he is playing with house money.

Jake Stallings began a slow, but steady, climb through the Pirates system after he was picked in the 7th round of the 2012 draft out of the University of North Carolina. He spent small parts of the 2016-18 seasons in Pittsburgh before his battlefield promotions became permanent due to injuries. And now, with Francisco Cerveli and Elias Diaz gone altogether, Stallings would appear to be the de facto #1 catcher although signee Luke Maile and invitees JR Murphy and Andrew Susac all have some major league experience. We talked, among other things, about his increasing role, pitch framing and the all-important umpire relations.