Pirates 'can't wait' to see solar eclipse before batting practice Monday at PNC Park

Bailey Falter was unaware of the rare celestial event that will occur Monday afternoon until his wife mentioned over the weekend that the Pittsburgh Pirates will be at PNC Park during the solar eclipse.

“I had no idea that was happening. I’ll be front and center watching it then, for sure,” said Falter, a left-handed pitcher. “Hopefully, we have something laying around here that I can put on my face and go around and watch it. I’m interested in it, for sure.”

Pirates manager Derek Shelton said the eclipse won’t interfere with the club’s pre-game workouts before Monday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers to accommodate the conditions, as 97% of the sun will be blocked by the moon at 3:17 p.m. The Pirates will take batting practice at 3:35 p.m.

“Our BP is a little bit later,” Shelton said, “but we’ll just make sure we’re in a position where it doesn’t affect us.”

The Pirates (8-2), coming off back-to-back walk-off wins over the Baltimore Orioles, are tied with the New York Yankees for the best record in baseball.

Talk of the total eclipse had the clubhouse buzzing over the weekend, and starting pitchers Marco Gonzales and Mitch Keller spoke about their fascination with space and planning to make time to see it.

“Every time we hear a plane or something, we just automatically look up. We have to know what it is at all times,” Falter said, leaning his head back and dropping his jaw to mimic the reaction. “That’s exactly what’s going to happen with the eclipse. I feel like we’re going to be going about our stuff and we’re all going to be like, ‘Look at that!’”

Pirates reliever Ryan Borucki read that Pennsylvania had the best views of the eclipse — Erie is expecting total blockage — so he’s excited about the chance to see it from the outfield or bullpen at PNC Park.

“I’m definitely going to be out there for it,” Borucki said. “I need some glasses, though. You have to be careful. You can’t look into it. It’ll be pitch black. It’ll be crazy. I can’t wait to see it.”