The Pittsburgh Pirates announced Monday that they will use three local venues as their alternate site facilities in April, as MLB has pushed back the start of the minor league season until May.
The Pirates will use a locker room at Heinz Field to serve as their home clubhouse and both PNC Park and Pitt’s Charles L. Cost Field as their training field, depending on when the major league club is in town.
When the Pirates are not playing at home, players assigned to the Pirates’ alternate training site will work out at PNC Park or play games in Columbus, Toledo and Louisville. When the Pirates are home, the alternate training site group will work out at Pitt. The Pirates said there will be not be alternate training site games in Pittsburgh in April.
“The Pirates organization is extremely grateful to both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the University of Pittsburgh for allowing our players and staff to use their first-class facilities during the first month of the season,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said in a statement. “It is a great example of the unique bond each of the professional teams and Pitt share with each other and part of what makes Pittsburgh such a special place.”
