New Pirates Training Center adds tech, heart to region’s youth baseball development

When Pirates outfielder Josh Palacios walked onto the second-floor full-scale baseball field at Bianco School of Baseball on Thursday afternoon, he liked what he saw. And he knew what it meant to developing youth ballplayers.

“This is extremely important to players growing up in the Northeast,” he said.

The baseball season is a relatively short one for youth in Pennsylvania and in Brooklyn, New York, where Palacios was born and raised in a baseball family where he’s not only been a Major Leaguer since 2021, but also his brother is a minor leaguer in the Cleveland Guardians organization, his father played AAA baseball and his uncle was a former major leaguer, among others.

Palacios said players who grow up in the South and in warmer climes have an advantage over those from colder climates, where several months out of the year they can’t play outside. The Bianco indoor diamond is full-sized and has life-sized wall coverings that mimic the look at PNC Park right down to the alignment of the foul poles. It’s a good way for developing players to get experience in the sights and sounds of the game 52 weeks out of the year, Palacios said.

“Having a facility like this is a big benefit,” he said.

Giving that leg up to players in the Pittsburgh region is the reason for Bianco Baseball, which serves about 1,800 families annually. It was founded in 1991 by Matt Bianco, a former W.P.I.A.L. and University of Pittsburgh baseball standout. It’s grown since 1991, when Bianco and his wife Chrissie founded the school with one batting cage.