The Pirates’ home opener vs. the Orioles on Friday (4:12 p.m. ET, MLB.TV) will be even more special, as the club intends to promote top prospect Konnor Griffin from Triple-A Indianapolis, tabbing the 19-year-old to improve production at shortstop while acknowledging an impressive developmental response.

CINCINNATI -- Brian Giles remembers seeing PNC Park for the first time prior to an exhibition series against the Mets, amazed by its beauty. Jason Kendall recalls the emotion he felt early in the morning on April 9, 2001, upon learning that Willie Stargell had died.

Both couldn’t believe it had

CINCINNATI — Moments after a frustrating Opening Day loss, the Pirates entered the visiting clubhouse at Citi Field when Justin Lawrence heard something that struck him.

It was Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.”

Don’t worry about a thing
‘Cause every little gonna be alright

Fast-forward to Wednesday. As the Pirates packed up

CINCINNATI — Paul Skenes certainly hasn’t had time between starts that looks like this. But the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner also isn’t overthinking the process between his first outing of the season and Wednesday’s series finale against the Reds.

True to form, Skenes is remaining calculated, processing everything

CINCINNATI – Darren Mazeroski figured the Pirates would do something, likely wearing a patch on their uniforms to honor his late father.

But the fact that they waited until the home opener at PNC Park to unveil a Bill Mazeroski patch made the gesture that much more touching for the younger

CINCINNATI — Jake Mangum knew the request sounded strange. He also didn’t care.

When the Pirates outfielder entered the visiting clubhouse at Great American Ball Park early Tuesday afternoon, he pulled one of the attendants aside with a question, bracing himself for a cockeyed look.

“I said, ‘Hey man, I know this

CINCINNATI — Braxton Ashcraft’s face and subdued tone told the story of a frustrating Pirates loss.

Yes, he delivered six strong innings and threw 87 pitches, both career-highs at this level. But nobody was happy with the Pirates falling, 2-0, to the Reds at Great American Ball Park on Monday, Cincinnati

NEW YORK — A strong relay and dramatic play at the plate. A few key hits with runners in scoring position when that sort of thing proved elusive all series. A bounce-back performance from the bullpen. Another Brandon Lowe home run.

Those were just a few themes that comprised the Pirates’

NEW YORK — It was a therapeutic hitting session between friends, two members of the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies who were slumping at the time. On a random off-day, Jake Mangum and Brett Baty hit and hit and hit, until they felt better about their swings.

Before facing each other Saturday

NEW YORK — Whether it was his running catch in center field or multiple hits — including a double slapped the other way, punctuated by a headfirst slide into second base — Saturday was the quintessential Jake Mangum game.

The speedy outfielder found a way to have an impact several ways,

NEW YORK — At some point in his career, Hunter Barco may look back on Saturday’s game as a pivotal moment, an area that helped him grow. But it’ll take a bit to get there

Right now, the Pirates’ 4-2 loss to the Mets at Citi Field stings. Barco

NEW YORK — Like many kids growing up in the 1960s and 70s, Glen E. Friedman loved baseball and grew intrigued by the Pirates teams of that era.

Even though he grew up in New York and northern New Jersey and eventually moved out to Los Angeles, Friedman felt drawn to

NEW YORK — Happy Friday, Pirates fans. Opening Day was tough, but the great thing about baseball, there's always another one soon. Before we turn our attention to Saturday, though, we had some intense reactions to Thursday. Let's address them. Future questions? Hit me up at Jason.Mackey@pirates.com.

Jim Rosati (@northsiden0tch): Jason,

NEW YORK — The majesty and importance of Opening Day will never go away. It should be considered a national holiday. It’s the culmination of weeks of Spring Training, mixed with a switch flipping toward the regular season, better weather and games that actually count.

In a way, overreacting is part

NEW YORK — Whatever you do, Ryan O’Hearn remembers saying, don’t make it pretty.

Absolutely nothing new, Brandon Lowe insisted.

Earlier this spring, as a few Pirates veteran players began talking about how they might want to celebrate home runs a little differently this season, they kicked around ways to honor Pittsburgh.

NEW YORK — One of the hallmarks of Paul Skenes’ Major League tenure so far — other than dominance — has been helping the Gary Sinise Foundation by donating his money and time.

Much like his baseball profile, the Pirates' Roberto Clemente Award nominee this past season keeps doing more and

NEW YORK — Nick Gonzales remembers visiting the American Museum of Natural History in New York City when he was 9 years old.

OK, sort of.

There was actually a baseball game he attended during the same trip that stood out more. But suffice to say, what Gonzales did along with Pirates

NEW YORK -- We’ve seen a few key trades and the largest contract for a free-agent hitter in team history. The Pirates arrived at Spring Training touting a revamped offense, Paul Skenes had to find somewhere to display his National League Cy Young Award and there’s

NEW YORK -- Since the day Konnor Griffin arrived at Pirate City, he displayed an impressive ability to focus on the day-to-day work, to learn and get better. It was no different the day the Pirates reassigned him to Minor League camp.

This past Saturday, Griffin left manager Don Kelly’s office

NEW YORK -- The scene felt like something right out of “Moneyball.” It was October 2020. Don Kelly had just finished his first season as Pirates bench coach when the Red Sox called. They wanted to interview Kelly to become their manager.

So he flew to Boston, met with a bunch

BRADENTON, Fla. — Isaac Mattson will never forget lining up along the baseline at Fenway Park on April 2, 2021, the sights, the sounds and the Baltimore Orioles uniform that he wore.

But Mattson was also only part of the taxi squad, there in case of an emergency.

After pregame introductions, he

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Konnor Griffin was certainly impressive this spring, teasing with his tools and uncommon maturity.

But the Pirates, who’ve talked repeatedly about being mindful of Griffin’s development and doing what’s best for him long term, made the difficult decision to reassign the 19-year-old shortstop to Minor League camp following

BRADENTON, Fla. — Hunter Barco’s strong spring ultimately translated into an Opening Day roster spot. The numbers weren’t there for Jose Urquidy, but he also has more experience than any pitcher on the Pirates roster.

With the Grapefruit League season concluding Monday, the Pirates have chosen both to make their Opening

BRADENTON, Fla. — When Nick Yorke and Billy Cook arrived in Florida for Spring Training, they had a shared purpose: to make the Pirates’ Opening Day roster. They also shared living space.

This weekend was a special one for the housemates, as Yorke and Cook found out within hours that they’ll