Pittsburgh Pirates

Column: Pirates holding plenty in reserve

by • Columns •

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Jung-Ho Kang takes his cuts in a Pirate City batting cage Sunday. — DEJAN KOVACEVIC

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

BRADENTON, Fla. — The ball rocketed off the bat of Jung-Ho Kang with such authority, such trajectory that one of two things seemed bound to happen as it carved through the air at Pirate City: It was either going to clear the left-field fence or require building a new one.

“Oh, my,” you could hear from coach Dave Jauss on the mound. He threw the pitch, and he didn’t even bother to turn to see where it was winding up.

The only other sounds, apart from a nearby squawking seagull on this sunny, 78-degree Sunday, came from Clint Hurdle and Bill Virdon perched behind the cage.

“What do you think, Bill?” the manager asked.

“Impressive,” the old champion replied. “And effortless.”

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Column: Rebonding a skipper with his smile

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Clint Hurdle poses with a family from Kittanning during a break in the Pirates’ workouts Saturday. — DEJAN KOVACEVIC

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

BRADENTON, Fla. — On the afternoon Clint Hurdle was ushered into PNC Park’s press conference room, amid the muted promise of yet another manager ushering in yet another new era for the most moribund franchise in professional sports, that man somehow, some way stood tall as he spoke these words: “Our goal … my goal … is to rebond this city with its baseball team.”

Yeah, that was all.

Why bother preaching patience, though he knew it was needed?

Why bother predicting success, though he knew that’s what we wanted to hear?

Hurdle went for the spiritual.

And sure enough, on the night of the already etched-in-bronze Blackout game against the Reds, when Johnny Cueto dropped the ball and Russell Martin dropped the bomb, that broader goal was consummated in exactly that way, wasn’t it?

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Podcast: Rapid fire on 970 ESPN w/ Todd

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BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

BRADENTON, Fla. — Here’s the podcast of my weekly rapid-fire segment on 970 ESPN Pittsburgh with David Todd, this live from Pirate City. Lots of Penguins and Pirates.

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Interview: Francisco Cervelli, Pirates

by • Videos •

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

BRADENTON, Fla. — Francisco Cervelli is not Russell Martin, but he is the Pirates’ new catcher, and in the earliest going of spring training, he’s already shown an energy, an enthusiasm to support the notion that he’s at least up to the mental challenge of replacing such a popular player.

“He’s going to be fine,” Manny Sanguillen, the franchise’s only two-time champion behind the plate, was telling me this morning. “He knows this is his chance. He’s the No. 1 catcher in Pittsburgh. Not anybody else. All he needs to be is himself.”

Cervelli and Sanguillen have been almost inseparable since arriving at Pirate City.

I spoke with Cervelli today after the second day of workouts.

Friday Insider: Pirates push pen competition

by • Friday Insider • , , ,

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Maximizing efficiency, two coaches hit infield practice while another tosses balls Thursday. — DEJAN KOVACEVIC

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

BRADENTON, Fla. — Roundup of a lot of randomness from a lot of time around our teams …

• No competition in spring training?

That’s undeniably true among the Pirates’ position players and starting pitchers, barring health issues, but management and the coaching staff have taken concrete, including behind-the-scenes, steps to ensure it doesn’t apply to the bullpen.

Yes, the picture looks almost as airtight there: Mark Melancon, Tony Watson and Antonio Bastardo are locks. Jared Hughes and John Holdzkom are near-locks, and I separate those two mostly because both have options and could be demoted with a decisively discouraging spring. If they fare well, they’ll fly north.

That would appear to leave two more spots, but it’s really just one.

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As Neal Huntington laid out for me Thursday in stark detail, “We anticipate that the odd man out of our rotation, assuming Charlie Morton’s health, will be one of our multi-inning relievers.”

That’s a clear reference to Vance Worley and Jeff Locke, one of whom will be bumped to the pen if Morton recovers from hip surgery for opening day. More on that later.

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News/views: Pedro ‘very positive’ about first base

by • News/views •

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

BRADENTON, Fla. — Pedro Alvarez reported early for the Pirates’ spring training, as did every position player on the roster, and described himself as feeling ‘very positive’ and ‘grateful for the opportunity’ to play first base in 2015.

On the video are all three questions I asked Alvarez before the pitchers and catchers took to the field at 1 p.m. Thursday for the first formal workout of spring training.

Alvarez and the early position players — a list that I believe was complete once Josh Harrison arrived from a stop at Disney, though I’ve yet to see Corey Hart for myself — hit in the batting cage, then took to the fields for some practice. Alvarez shared first base in the drills with Andrew Lambo and prospect Stetson Allie.

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