PITTSBURGH — There are three types of players that can benefit the most from going to winter ball in the off-season. Guys that are working on a specific element to their game, guys that have lost time to injury or guys that just need continued at-bats.<\/p>\n
Rookie infielder Chase d\u2019Arnaud falls into all three of those categories.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe missed time to injury this year, not a ton, but enough that he missed time,\u201c General Manager Neal Huntington said. \u201cWe\u2019re working on some offensive maturation, some growth and development, some defensive maturation, growth and development. There could be some significant benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since coming off the disabled list on August 25th<\/sup> with a right pinky fracture, d\u2019Arnaud has gone just 2-for-23 at the plate.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has been hard offensively, the game has been hard,\u201d Manager Clint Hurdle said. \u201cOnce we get him on base, it\u2019s been really, really good. But that\u2019s where the disconnect has been. He\u2019s working on making some adjustments. He\u2019s heading to winter ball. I\u2019m not sure where yet, but he\u2019s going.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe needs to make some adjustments on the offensive side of it. Some success in Triple-A, up here, some exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n d\u2019Arnaud is batting just .200 on the season and has struck out 32 times in 37 games.<\/p>\n \u201cPain brings immediate attention to a specific area,\u201d Hurdle said. \u201cThere\u2019s some guys out there feeling some pain. As far as sporting pain and the challenges that come with the dynamics of playing the game. With d\u2019Arnaud, it\u2019s about establishing a consistent point of contact of impact of a baseball, hitting against his front leg, not sliding forward underneath, recognizing spin, all of those things up here than can be dynamic and challenging.”<\/p>\n His results were much better when he was getting everyday playing time, both in Triple-A and with the Pirates when Ronny Cedeno was sidelined. Since then, with limited playing time, it’s been a struggle for d’Arnaud.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always a challenge for any player, to try to switch into a part time role\u201d Huntington said. \u201cSome guys do it quite well, it\u2019s an art. How do you stay prepared? How do you not overwork? How do you not under work? How do you flip the switch when its time to pinch hit in the7th<\/sup> inning, or going in as a defensive switch or a Sunday day game start? Some guys have a difficult time with that. It\u2019s all part of the learning curve. It\u2019s all part of the maturation process\u2026It\u2019s a challenge for any player, and in Chase\u2019s case its been a challenge for him as well.\u201d<\/p>\n “He\u2019s a fighter,” Hurdle said. “I just think it\u2019s something he\u2019s going to have to fight through.\u201d<\/p>\n Photo credit: Yahoo! Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PITTSBURGH — There are three types of players that can benefit the most from going to winter ball in the off-season. Guys that are working on a specific element to their game, guys that have lost time to injury or guys that just need continued at-bats. Rookie infielder Chase d\u2019Arnaud falls into all three of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[1196,616,926,425,619,1550],"class_list":["post-7474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional","tag-chase-darnaud","tag-clint-hurdle","tag-neal-huntington","tag-pirates","tag-pittsburgh","tag-winter-ball"],"yoast_head":"\n