BRADENTON, Fla. — Billy Cook was one of the feel-good stories among Pittsburgh Pirates September call-ups in 2024, as the outfielder made his major-league debut and had five extra-base hits and eight RBIs.
A year later, Cook could only cheer for his teammates at Triple-A Indianapolis who got their promotions while he recovered from a season-ending left wrist injury after being hit by a pitch.
Now healed, Cook is trying to take advantage of every opportunity this spring to show the Pirates that he can be a contributor. He helped his cause with a career day at the plate Sunday, going 3 for 3 with a double, a solo home run and three RBIs in a 9-7 win over the Boston Red Sox in a Grapefruit League game before 6,684 at LECOM Park.
“He’s been swinging the bat really well all spring,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “To have a huge game today … He’s playing good baseball right now. He worked really hard in the offseason and put himself in great position.”
Nick Yorke also had three RBIs, going 2 for 3 with a three-run homer against his former team. Marcell Ozuna also had two hits. Carmen Mlodzinski started and allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits with four strikeouts in three-plus innings. Mike Clevinger gave up four runs on five hits and a walk with two strikeouts in three innings of relief.
Cook, who has a .294/.478/.588 slash line in nine games, got off to a hot start. With two on and two outs in the second inning, Cook drilled a 1-2 fastball from Kyle Keller for a double to center field to drive in Ozuna and Yorke and give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.
But when Boston’s Mikey Romero singled to left in the fourth, Cook committed an error when he overthrew the cutoff, shortstop Jared Triolo, and the ball rolled to first base. Romero advanced to second, then scored on Vinny Capra’s double to trim the Pirates’ lead to 3-2.
Cook redeemed himself with two outs in the fourth, when he sent Tyler Uberstine’s sinker 390 feet over the wall in left-center for a solo homer to give the Pirates a 4-2 advantage.
“The guy kind of threw everything (and) the kitchen sink,” Cook said. “I was on heater, and he threw me one. I got it in the air. Today was a good day to get it in the air, and I got a little help from the wind. I’m just trying to back spin the ball true, and I was able to get it. Even that double to right had good backspin. It wasn’t hit as hard as the homer but on a day like today, you take those for sure.”
In the sixth inning, Cook singled to left off Devin Sweet to finish a triple shy of hitting for the cycle in a spring training game.
“It was nice,” Cook said. “You just take it one at-bat at a time. Sometimes, you get two at-bats a game; today, I got three and was able to take advantage of all of them. It was nice to get three hits in a row, too.”
Cook made a strong impression in late September 2024, hitting two doubles and three home runs for eight RBIs in a 16-game stint in the majors. He also had 19 strikeouts without a walk and batted .224, but the Pirates were impressed with his strong arm and power in his bat.
But Cook batted only .160 last spring and started the season at Triple-A Indianapolis. He batted .248/.323/.384 with 17 doubles, eight homers and 46 RBIs — with 102 strikeouts against 34 walks — in 94 games but suffered a season-ending ulnar injury when hit by a pitch Aug. 3.
“At first, we got it X-rayed and it didn’t show a fracture. That took about an extra two weeks to realize that it was fractured, so I don’t think I even went on the IL for a week after that so it was a little frustrating,” Cook said. “We had to get it X-rayed twice to see that it was broken. Not much that we could do about it. I don’t think I would’ve been able to come back from it if we’d found it right away. There was that little hope at the beginning but as I was hitting through it, it was brutal. We were like, ‘Hey, something’s not right.’ ”
The injury took about three months to heal, slowed by a six-week shutdown from all baseball activities after Cook tried to push it by hitting. The extra rest sped up the healing and gave Cook extra motivation to get ready for spring training.
“It’s taking the pressure off yourself and just taking it one at-bat at a time,” Cook said. “Every at-bat is important but also not making every single at-bat mean the world. Just taking it one at-bat at a time, one game at a time and accepting that there will be ups and downs in the spring and the season. As you handle those, if you just stay even it’s going to work itself out.”
Note: Jose Urquidy is scheduled to start against left-hander Max Fried and the New York Yankees at 6:35 p.m. Monday at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. … In the first round of cuts, the Pirates optioned infielder Jack Brannigan and right-handed reliever Ryan Harbin to Triple-A Indianapolis. Brannigan suffered a broken nose on a bad hop against Philadelphia on Feb. 22, and Harbin has been out with a teres major musculature injury. There are now 62 players (61 active) in big-league camp.