Clint Hurdle
Clint Hurdle
Clinton Merrick Hurdleis an American former professional baseball outfielder and current manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Hurdle played in MLB for the Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, and St. Louis Cardinals, and has also managed for the Colorado Rockies...
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth30 July 1957
CityBig Rapids, MI
asked pride skills takes
He is a ballplayer. He takes a lot of pride in what he is asked to do. He is comfortable with who he is and the skills he has.
behind both good sides worked
He had a lot of good things going on tonight. He worked both sides of the plate. He was never behind in the count.
board chance concerns few major pitcher runs
He had a chance to put the pitcher away and keep all those runs off the board but he wasn't able to do it and the inning unraveled on him. But he's got a few more starts. I don't have any major concerns about him.
ball early gave settled six strong
He got the ball up early but settled in and gave us six strong innings. He was very effective.
above command fall game good history issues line pitchers wonder
He got off to a good run, but his command has become a little more inconsistent of late. He's got a history of issues with command. If his command doesn't get to be above average, he will fall in the line of a lot of pitchers who will show you a good game once in a while, and then you wonder why they don't have more success.
battle carried emotions learned pitches survive
He experienced every emotion. He pitches well at times. He learned to battle and survive at times. He didn't back down from anything. He carried his load.
ball good ground hit
He made them hit the ball on the ground with regularity. He made some good pitches.
fourth
He made some mistakes, but from the fourth inning on, he located the ball.
again ball bat both good last needs nice point quick release season strides swung threw throwing time trouble using
He made nice strides this spring. He just needs to keep making the strides that he made. There was a point in time last season where we were having trouble throwing the ball around the infield. Now he threw the ball accurately, his release times were quick and efficient. I think he swung the bat efficiently. He's using his off-gap again from both sides. He had a good spring.
knock needs rust
He needs to find a way to knock some of that rust off. And, hopefully, he did (Thursday).
bar both capable goes season
(Helton) has set the bar very high. If he goes out and does what he is capable of doing it will be an outstanding season both offensively and defensively.
cover create mound moved situations tried
He moved around pretty well. It wasn't in a game-like situation, but we tried to create some situations where he had to get off the mound and cover bases, and everything went pretty well.
positive steps took
We took steps all over the joint. It's another positive for us.
beat chance drawing game plays talked took
We took a chance, but it's not like we were drawing plays up in the dirt. We talked before the game that he wasn't going to get a chance to beat us.