Physical day updates: Matt Joyce reportedly signs with Pirates, Doc Emrick in the house

BRADENTON, Fla. — According to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, the Pirates agreed to terms on a minor league contract with outfielder Matt Joyce. The 31-year-old Joyce, who bats left-handed, has played in the majors for parts of eight seasons with the Tigers, Rays and Angels.

Joyce can play either corner, and could have a chance to compete for a spot as the fourth outfielder. With Josh Harrison expected to play every day at second (or third, before Jung Ho Kang gets back) and Sean Rodriguez a possibility to fill in at second with Harrison playing third, the Pirates might look at Joyce as an early-season option.

But Joyce hit .174/.272/.291 in 284 plate appearances with the Angels last season. He was solid in 2014, and made the All-Star team in ’11, when he hit .277 with 19 homers.

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Doc Emrick, NBC’s lead national hockey announcer, was in Pirates camp today. He will call some Pirates spring training games alongside Greg Brown, who he knows well. He met Mark Melancon, among other players, this morning.

“I asked him, is this a good job?” Emrick said. “Because I sit there at home in the ninth inning and think, this is the last job I’d ever want to have. I did the same thing the first hockey game I went to when I saw the goaltender because then they weren’t wearing masks.

“But he said yeah, it is. I know that you sit at home and you might be nervous, but I’m not. This is what I like doing.”

A few years back, Emrick visited PNC Park and was sitting in clubhouse manager Scott Bonnett’s office when Matt Capps walked in. ”He said, ‘I know what you do, you’re a hockey guy,’” Emrick said. “I said, ‘Yeah. And I know what you do.’ He shook his head and said, all ‘I gotta do is get three outs. It’s the best job in baseball.’”

Emrick said he has called exactly one baseball game -— with Stan Savran, when both were at Miami (Ohio) and a last-minute broadcast team was needed for a game against Kent State. 

“Stan of course knew some of the players personally,” Emrick said. “I didn’t know anything. All we had was a lineup, no media guide, nothing.”

Thurman Munson, a former rookie of the year and MVP with the Yankees, played in that game, and Steve Stone, who won the Cy Young in 1980, was available to pitch but never did.

Emrick, who said he was ”raised on Bob Prince,” is excited about calling Pirates games, but wants to make sure he does a good job.

“I thought, gee, if there was ever a case when I could be on with Brownie, that would be fun for me,” Emrick said. “I don’t know if it would be for the audience, but if it was a harmless spring training game, maybe people would be sympathetic, saying, that’s just Doc, let him go for a little bit.”