PITTSBURGH — It was only a month ago that left-hander Jeff Locke was pitching in the starting rotation for the Double-A Altoona Curve. But after getting promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis where he posted a 2.22 ERA in five starts, Locke got the call that he\u2019s dreamt of since he was a little kid.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very exciting,\u201d Locke said. \u201cAnytime you get a promotion, it\u2019s never been a bad thing. To start off in Double-A and be able to come here at some point in the year is really a dream come true. It\u2019s everything you\u2019ve been working for since you were knee-high and this is where you want to be. Now it\u2019s trying to find a way to stay. It\u2019s very exciting obviously. I\u2019ve had a long season, coming from Double-A, a stop in Triple-A, then here. It\u2019s very exciting and I\u2019ll try to make the best of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Triple-A Manager Dean Treanor told Locke, the Pirates 8th<\/sup> best prospect in the system prior to the 2011 season, that he was heading to Pittsburgh on Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cHe told me to have fun and represent the organization proudly and to keep a smile on my face,\u201d Locke said.<\/p>\n The first person the 23-year-old lefty called was his mother.<\/p>\n \u201cI called home and talked to my Mom and my Dad and they were very excited,\u201c Locke said. \u201cI don\u2019t even know if they believe me yet.\u201d<\/p>\n And from there, the word spread.<\/p>\n \u201cThe phone\u2019s been ringing off the hook the last day or so,\u201d Locke said. \u201cHeck, I\u2019ll take all the phone calls when it\u2019s something like this. It\u2019s been very exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n Locke said all his teammates from Altoona, especially former roommate and right-hander Michael Coll,a were very supportive of his callup.<\/p>\n \u201cI heard from everybody that I played with in Altoona,\u201d Locke said. \u201cI\u2019ve only been in Triple-A for three, four weeks. I still have a lot of ties to the guys there in Altoona. It\u2019s such an exciting feeling to be going up to the next level. Regardless if it\u2019s April, May, June, September, it doesn\u2019t matter. It\u2019s always exciting up here. There\u2019s so much good talent and we\u2019d just like to put it all together for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n In his final start for Triple-A Indy on Monday, Locke allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits over five innings. He walked two and struck out six.<\/p>\n After posting a 4.03 ERA in 22 starts with Double-A Altoona, Locke excelled at Triple-A, allowing three earned runs or less in all five of his starts.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes the challenges of moving up can peak performance,\u201d Manager Clint Hurdle said. \u201cFor whatever reasons. Not that guys get stale but they get comfortable in a situation and maybe they\u2019re not as sharp or their focus isn\u2019t as acute. Now you get called up and say, \u2018Oh. Now I\u2019m getting called up a higher level. These guys are a little bit better. I got to nail it down a little bit more.\u2019 I\u2019ve seen that happen. I know that the games that he pitched up there, they said his command was exceptionally good, exceptionally good.\u201d<\/p>\n Although Locke\u2019s role with the club has yet to be determined, the Pirates don\u2019t rule out using him in the rotation\u00a0for the rest of the\u00a0season.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re having that conversation right now,\u201d Hurdle said. \u201cI had [pitching coach] Ray [Searage] and [General Manager] Neal [Huntington] in here earlier today. I think we\u2019ll have some better definition of how we plan this thing out going forward by tomorrow. We want to see Locke. We\u2019ve seen Aaron [Thompson] one time. We anticipate seeing more of him. We\u2019ve got to continue to monitor our starters…I think there\u2019s probably going to be the opportunity for both of them to start up here before the seasons over.\u201d<\/p>\n Along with being a rookie, Locke will have the honor of sporting a bright pink backpack to the bullpen every game. He\u2019s not alone. All five rookies in the ‘pen will carry pink backpacks. Tony Watson carries a princess bag, Aaron Thompson and Daniel Moskos have Hello Kitty, Jared Hughes has a Barbie backpack, and Locke?<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m told this is the Dora Explorer edition,\u201d Locke said. \u201cI\u2019ll wear that with pride today and for the rest of the time I\u2019m here probably.\u201d<\/p>\n Whatever it takes to stay in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n