The first time Brandon Lowe visited PNC Park, he made a point to step onto the field and see the city skyline so that he could appreciate the view of one of baseball\u2019s most beautiful ballparks.<\/p>\n
After seven seasons of playing at Tropicana Field and one makeshift season at a minor league stadium, when damage to the dome forced the Tampa Bay Rays to use the New York Yankees\u2019 George M. Steinbrenner Field, the two-time All-Star second baseman is looking forward to his first home opener with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday at PNC Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely exciting to call that place home,\u201d said Lowe, who was acquired along with outfielder Jake Mangum and left-handed reliever Mason Montgomery in a three-team trade that sent pitcher Mike Burrows to the Houston Astros.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful ballpark. That\u2019s pretty cool, especially coming from an organization where people constantly trashed our home ballpark. It\u2019s pretty exciting to get a place where it feels like everything is the exact opposite. I feel like everybody I\u2019ve talked to about it loves PNC. I\u2019m excited to get there and find the place I\u2019m calling home. I have three games there my entire career, so I\u2019m not really all that sure what to expect. But I\u2019m excited to stand out there and hear the fans and see what it\u2019s like to play in Pittsburgh.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pirates are hoping their fans share that excitement, especially with their spending $45.25 million alone this season on the additions of All-Stars in Lowe, first baseman\/right fielder Ryan O\u2019Hearn, designated hitter Marcell Ozuna and left-handed reliever Gregory Soto.<\/p>\n
Lowe and O\u2019Hearn have made an immediate impact offensively. Lowe homered twice against the New York Mets on Opening Day and has a .333 batting average and team-best 1.344 OPS through his first five games. O\u2019Hearn is batting .421 with two home runs, six RBIs and a 1.259 OPS through his first five games, including a three-run homer Tuesday at Cincinnati that proved a turning point in an 8-3 win.<\/p>\n
Soto has shined in high-leverage situations, allowing one hit and no runs in four relief appearances, and is tied for the team lead with eight strikeouts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why we brought them in,\u201d Pirates ace Paul Skenes said. \u201cThey\u2019re doing a really good job. It\u2019s been fun to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Hearn can\u2019t wait to wear the home white uniforms for the first time Friday, when the Pirates (3-3) play host to his former team, the Baltimore Orioles. He spent nearly three seasons in Baltimore before being dealt to the San Diego Padres at the trade deadline last July.<\/p>\n
Since signing a two-year, $29 million contract as a free agent, O\u2019Hearn has embraced Pirates fans in both his introductory news conference in early January and by making a video appearance before a Q&A session with the team\u2019s management at PiratesFest later in the month.<\/p>\n
Two months later, O\u2019Hearn is ready to feel their energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just excited to play in front of our fans,\u201d O\u2019Hearn said. \u201cWhen we do something good, we\u2019ll have the fans behind us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neither Lowe nor O\u2019Hearn have much experience playing at PNC Park \u2014 a combined seven games between them \u2014 but as left-handed hitters they find the 390-foot power alley in right-center and the short 320-foot porch inviting, with the thought of hitting one over the 21-foot Clemente Wall in right field and into the Allegheny River a challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s definitely a comfort factor to know I don\u2019t have to hit a ball perfect to be rewarded,\u201d said Lowe, who is coming off a 31-homer season and has three in five games with the Pirates. \u201cThat\u2019s definitely something that\u2019s extremely enticing. As for putting the ball in the river, that\u2019s a shot. We\u2019re not going to be trying to put the ball in the river but if one comes through, I\u2019m more than welcoming the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound O\u2019Hearn said he \u201c100%\u201d is enamored with the idea of joining the company of those who have homered into the Allegheny, a 456-foot shot from home plate to the river. At Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, players who hit a ball onto Eutaw Street have plaques to commemorate where their baseballs landed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying to put a ball on Eutaw Street for three years and never did it,\u201d O\u2019Hearn said. \u201cThis is the same kind of situation. You don\u2019t get a plaque, but putting a ball in the river sounds great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ozuna, a three-time All-Star, has 296 career home runs but only one of them has come at PNC Park. The left field dimensions, including the 410-foot North Side Notch, aren\u2019t particularly kind to right-handed hitters like Ozuna. But after playing for the Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves over the past 13 seasons, the 35-year-old slugger is hoping to make a powerful impression on the Pirates.<\/p>\n
Ozuna is off to a 1-for-20 start (.050), so he hasn\u2019t had the immediate impact of Lowe or O\u2019Hearn, but Pirates teammates have credited him for creating a fun clubhouse dynamic that has helped Oneil Cruz relax and enjoy the game more. Ozuna is ready to make his Pirates debut at PNC Park and hopes the fans will embrace the newcomers.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe only thing I want from them is for them to give us their support. We\u2019re going to come in every day and give our best,\u201d said Ozuna, who has batted .225\/.295\/.310 with nine doubles, one homer and 13 RBIs in 36 career games at PNC Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel blessed. Not the great start I\u2019m used to having every single year. It\u2019s taking time to get ready and be in position to help the team the most I can. I\u2019m trying to get ready to go to PNC Park and see if things go well. I like the stadium. Now that I\u2019m on that side, I\u2019m happy to be on that side. Let\u2019s go play.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first time Brandon Lowe visited PNC Park, he made a point to step onto the field and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":658914,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2402],"tags":[5,4,10,776,64,4297],"class_list":{"0":"post-658913","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-pirates","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-pirates","11":"tag-pittsburgh","12":"tag-pittsburgh-pirates","13":"tag-pittsburghpirates"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116335584784852579","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}