PITTSBUGH — When Michael McKenry was acquired from Boston Red Sox\u2019s Triple-A Pawtucket on June 13, he immediately was thrown behind the plate not having caught a single Pirates pitcher. But McKenry handled it well, recording a 3.73 ERA over his 54 starts behind home plate (485.0 innings caught) during the 2011 season. His work behind the plate gave him the nickname, \u201cthe fort\u201d by Pirates broadcasters Greg Brown and Bob Walk.<\/p>\n
But at the plate, however, McKenry struggled, batting just .222 with 17 runs, 12 doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI with Pittsburgh. This offseason, McKenry worked on hitting during the Fall Instructional League, which was held in Bradenton, Fla.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt went really well. It was my first time in Bradenton,\u201c Said McKenry, who was in Pittsburgh for PirateFest last weekend. \u201cThe facilities there are great\u2026I didn\u2019t know what to expect. It was really my first time to see all that. It\u2019s beautiful. I actually stayed in Pirate City with all the young guys. I played ping pong at night with them. I just had a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n
McKenry also worked with Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle this offseason. Hurdle has spent some of his Managerial career as hitting coach, most recently with the Texas Rangers in 2010, who won the American League Pennant.<\/p>\n
The lessons learned from Hurdle were invaluable.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy work with Clint was phenomenal,\u201c McKenry said. \u201cI actually came back up to Pittsburgh right before Thanksgiving and worked with him again. Whenever I get an opportunity, I\u2019ve tried to make some time and he\u2019s been really good with me and made his time available. He\u2019s a busy man.\u201d<\/p>\n
McKenry said he contributes to his struggles at the plate during the 2011 season to be more mental, rather than physical.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest thing was more in my head than the physical tools of it,\u201c he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s getting past those little things that you got to tweak. We\u2019re all here for a reason. A big part of us being here is being mentally sound day in and day out, not worrying about the valleys or the peaks, just trying to stay level headed and clear minded, and just remember what it\u2019s like to play this game like a little kid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heading into the 2012 season, McKenry has a good chance of making the club as the No. 2 catcher. The Pirates signed veteran Rod Barajas to a one-year contract in November. Despite not having met Barajas, who has caught the parts of 13 seasons in the Majors, McKenry is looking forward to picking his brain this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to it,\u201c McKenry said. \u201cHe\u2019s an older guy, he\u2019s a guy I can learn from. I\u2019m really looking forward to just kind of latching right next to him, keep my mouth shut and my ears open and let him feed me full of information. A guy that\u2019s been around for that long and has that much to give, I\u2019m kind of fired up about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Photo credit: Yahoo! Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PITTSBUGH — When Michael McKenry was acquired from Boston Red Sox\u2019s Triple-A Pawtucket on June 13, he immediately was thrown behind the plate not having caught a single Pirates pitcher. But McKenry handled it well, recording a 3.73 ERA over his 54 starts behind home plate (485.0 innings caught) during the 2011 season. His work […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[1115,616,1123,425,619,1678,1617],"class_list":["post-9402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-professional","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-clint-hurdle","tag-michael-mckenry","tag-pirates","tag-pittsburgh","tag-rod-barajas","tag-spring-training"],"yoast_head":"\n