When the Red Sox embarked on what wound up being a five-year rebuilding process, the club’s first big draft pick was infielder Nick Yorke, who they selected No. 17 overall in the 2020 MLB Draft.

Yorke wound up being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Quinn Priester deal, and Sunday he bolstered his case for a spot on the Pirates’ Opening Day roster at the expense of his former team.

Yorke hit a three-run home run to help hand the Red Sox a 9-7 loss in Bradenton. The 23-year-old infielder went deep in the bottom of the sixth to put Pittsburgh ahead 8-3 and finished 2 for 3 with the homer and two runs scored.

Since the 2024 trade Yorke has appeared in 33 MLB games for Pittsburgh, including 22 last season in which he batted .232 with a .583 OPS. But so far this spring Yorke is batting .304 with a .907 OPS, putting him in contention for a possible bench role on a Pirates squad that looks much improved from last year’s 71-91 squad.

Mickey Gasper led the Red Sox at the plate, going 2 for 2 with a two-run home run, and Andruw Monasterio went 2 for 2 with an RBI as well.

Ward keeps stealing

With virtually the club’s entire major league outfield group currently away at the World Baseball Classic, Braiden Ward has gotten plenty of playing time for the Red Sox this spring and has made the most of his opportunities. The speedy outfielder is now up to 13 stolen bases in Grapefruit League play, which is more than double the next closest player.

Ward also went 1 for 3 with a run scored, bringing his spring average to .440.

Bennett allows two

Taking the mound for the first time since Tuesday’s exhibition loss to Team Puerto Rico, Red Sox pitching prospect Jake Bennett was charged with two runs over 1 2/3 innings on two hits, no walks and a hit batsman with two strikeouts.

Bennett faced eight batters total but saw his pitch count balloon to 41 before completing the second inning. He worked around a hit batter in the first and went single, strikeout, fly out, single before being pulled for Kyle Keller with two outs in the second. Both inherited runners came around to score on Billy Cook’s subsequent two-run double off Keller.

Abbott starting opener

Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona told reporters in Arizona on Sunday that left-hander Andrew Abbott will be the club’s Opening Day starter against the Red Sox on March 26.

The 26-year-old is entering his fourth MLB season and is coming off an All-Star campaign in which he posted a 2.87 ERA over 166 1/3 innings. Garrett Crochet has already been announced as Boston’s Opening Day starter, pitting two of the game’s top lefties against one another.

Coming up next

Crochet will make his next start on Monday against the Phillies at JetBlue Park, and Zack Kelly, Seth Martinez, Ryan Watson, Tayron Guerrero and Tyler Samaniego are scheduled to come out of the bullpen behind him. First pitch is 1:05 p.m.