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
against bona everywhere pitchers played power reason until
We think he will be a bona fide power guy. He has played against left-handed pitchers everywhere he has been until this point. There's no reason he shouldn't be able to do it here.
held mixed outing outside pitches positive runners time took win
I thought he took a very positive first step. He didn't get outside of himself. In the first inning he was mid-20s in pitches, but he battled. He didn't give up a big inning after that. Any time there was traffic, he held runners well. He made pitches when he had to. He mixed his pitches. He held the left-handers very effectively. A big outing for him and a big win for us.
challenges command couple good handled pitches strike zone
I thought he handled a couple of challenges very well. I thought his first 10 pitches were up a bit, and then I thought he got pretty good command of the strike zone down.
given guys maintain opportunity pitching tom velocity
We know Tom is experienced and he is not going to rattle. We want to see them maintain velocity once we have them pitching back-to-back days. Guys are going to be given every opportunity to show they can't do it.
clean happy pitching
We aren't happy with our defense. Sometimes you can clean it up with pitching or hitting. We didn't do exceptionally well in any area.
bullpen good hopefully momentum offense pitches
We haven't been sharp. Off the mound, defensively, there are things we should have done better. We didn't make good pitches out of the bullpen when we got close. The offense rallied late, and hopefully that'll give us some momentum going into (today).
everybody faced pitching
We haven't faced much left-handed pitching (since Sept. 20), and I want to try and keep everybody sharp.
clear focused job pitch ready spot spring training
I don't want them to feel they have to pitch their way into the spot and that is what spring training is about. We need to get it out of the way, clear out any distractions and keep focused on the job at hand, getting ready for the season.
area burn critical glass guys honest location next pitch somebody time
Nobody's under a magnifying glass. You put somebody under a magnifying glass long enough, you burn them. The guys that didn't pitch well, they know who they are. Through honest self-evaluation, they'll see their location and the adjustments they need to make the next time out. That'll be the critical area to watch.
barometer believe breaking chair good happened kept nobody perform pitcher point possible simple taken tight time tried wound
Nobody here has taken him and put him in a chair and tried to get him wound up so tight that he can't perform by breaking down his mechanics, ... We've kept things as simple as possible for a young left-handed pitcher to go out there and perform. I really believe that, at this point and time in the season, this is one of the more challenging things that's happened to him in his career. This'll be a good barometer of who and what he is.
fifth game leaving motivate people pitcher
Leaving a game in the fifth inning I wouldn't think would make any pitcher happy, ... Sometimes different things will motivate people different ways.
catch leagues minor pitchers polished tougher
More often than not you're going to catch pitchers that end up in the big leagues if you're in the minor leagues, so you're going to see the stuff. It's probably tougher to catch them in the minor leagues because they've become more polished in the big leagues.
bonds crushed pitch quite
The pitch to Bonds wasn't quite over the plate. But with him if it's up, he can get it. And he crushed it.
balls capable hitting leaving obviously pitching team
Because they're capable of doing it. And obviously I think the other team would be the first one to tell you, they're not pitching like they can or like they need to. They're probably leaving balls up over the plate. We're getting some balls to hit, and we're hitting them.