Pedro Alvarez is back in the lineup tonight against the Cardinals, but don’t expect him to get all the remaining starts at third base this season. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle made it clear that he won’t’ disregard what Josh Harrison has been able to do in his time up here.
“I understand the importance of getting Pedro on track and we’re trying to weigh all that in,” Hurdle said. “[I’ll] give him the opportunity to get involved against some match up guys. [But] some other guys have earned some playing time in his absence that I just want to turn my back on them, nor do I want to unplug them just because. Pedro’s got these games as everybody else does, an opportunity in winter ball and then next spring training. So that’s the focus I’m going forward with.”
- Lefty Jeff Locke made his Major League debut on Saturday night where he allowed three runs over five innings of work. Locke started the season at Double-A and was promoted to Triple-A and Pittsburgh all within a month. The 23-year-old could be a candidate for the 2012 rotation.
“Jeff came a long way this year,“ General Manager Neal Huntington said. “We we’re excited about him coming into the season. [He] had a tough start in Altoona for whatever reason. [He] really came on, then went to Triple-A and had a handful of quality starts down there where he attacked the zone. A little different then he was [Saturday night]. He was talked to by his teammates and we talked to him as a group, don’t give the Major Leagues too much credit because if you do, then you’re going to be behind in the count and you’re in trouble. He worked a little bit behind in the count. You can’t fault him for anything. It’s great to get that debut out of the way but we’ve still got some growth and development left with Jeff. We will see how the off-season plays out. We’ve got a number of candidates that could fill that rotation internally.”
“Jeff has definitely put himself in that depth position. Can he be more than that? We’ll see externally what happens out of his control and internally and what he does the rest of this season but into the off-season as well. He’s already in much better shape than he’s ever been in his life. Which is a tribute to him. He did it in season, which is tough to do. He made a commitment to it and deserves a lot of credit for that.”
- The Pirates have announced that infielder Brock Holt and Outfielder Robbie Grossman will play in the Arizona Fall League this off-season. The other five have yet to be announced. The Pirates first round pick, right-hander Gerrit Cole is still a consideration.
“We’re trying to do the best thing for Gerrit,” Huntington said. “He’s worked hard since going down to Florida after the signing deadline. Most importantly we want to put him in the position to be successful. Its just the matter of determining is that by getting extra innings against a higher level of competition in Arizona? Or is that by building innings, competing in the instructional league.”
- In his first start of the season against the Cardinals, Brad Lincoln tossed 6.0 scoreless innings and won a 7-0 decision over Chris Carpenter at Busch Stadium for his long victory with the Bucs this season. In two starts since then, Lincoln has received a total of two runs of offensive support while losing both assignments.
- Derrek Lee has played in 1886 career games at first base. Among active players, only Todd Helton (2000) has played more games at that position. Albert Pujols ranks third among NL first baseman (1319) and fourth overall.
- With Jeff Karstens scheduled to make his 25th start of the season tomorrow, the Pirate will be one of the first National League teams in 2011 with five pitchers making at least 25 starts (the Rangers are currently the only Major League team with that distinction and the Brewers and Mets are also expected to join the list tomorrow). Only four other teams in club history have the Pirates had five pitchers make 25 or more starts in one season (1997, 1984, 1976, 1925).
Cardinals:
Rafael Furcal SS, Jon Jay OF, Albert Pujols 1B, Matt Holliday LF, David Freese 3B, Yadier Molina C, Skip Schumaker 2B, Kyle Lohse RHP
Pirates:
Alex Presley LF, Neil Walker 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Derrek Lee 1B, Ryan Doumit C, Garrett Jones RF, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Ronny Cedeno SS, Brad Lincoln RHP
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