At most, the Pittsburgh Pirates will start the season with five offensive bench players, one of which will be a backup catcher. Without a doubt, this player will be Chris Stewart, which leaves four open spots for Pirates to fill.
In my opinion, there are eight players competing for these four spots and every one of them is hitting the cover off of the ball during spring training – Adam Frazier, Jose Osuna, Gift Ngoepe, David Freese, Alen Hanson, Phil Gosselin, John Jaso, and Danny Ortiz.