Pirates' Kyle Nicolas: Strong debut for Altoona

Nicolas allowed two hits and three walks while striking out five over 3.2 innings in his debut for Double-A Altoona.

According to Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, the Pirates were raving about Nicolas this spring and scouts in other organizations think the Pirates did really well to land him from Miami in the Jacob Stallings trade. Nicolas has logged 43 innings at Double-A dating back to last season, so he could earn a midseason bump to Triple-A Indianapolis.