This isn't huge news, but it's good to hear that starting at AAA isn't an option for Pedro, even though he will have another option on his contract.
This is interesting in two ways. First of all, Hurdle didn't exactly exude confident in Presley by saying he'll get the "first shot". There's no reason that anyone should be incredibly confident with him since he really hasn't put up sustained numbers yet because of the small sample size. The second reason it's interesting is because now we know that Jose Tabata is indeed going to shift to right field. That makes sense, as Presley can cover more ground than Tabata and will play the spacious left side of PNC better than Jose. That said, the Pirates outfield is going to be one of the fastest in the bigs, not many balls are going to find that grass.
This was a testament to the kind of ball that Clint Barmes plays. Hurdle really likes his work ethic and blue-collar style. He said much of the same about Rod Barajas.
Hurdle said he thinks the Pirates will have a "very good bullpen" and that the bench will be stronger than last year. It's not saying much for the bench to be better than last year, because it was really rough for most of the year. I certainly agree with Hurdle's confidence in the bullpen, they have some very solid arms and really good depth.
If you don't listen to TribLIVE Radio, you really need to start. It's straight sports talk, no cutesy talk. My personal opinion is that sports talk radio shows these days take too many calls from the public. What Joe Schmo says about the Pirates means nothing, we want to hear the experts, and that's what TribLIVE brings to you. Also, I'm an occasional guest on the station during the offseason and I'll be on there on a weekly basis come summer time.
Besides Hurdle on TribLIVE, Bill Brink of the Post-Gazette had some quotes from Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage. Here are some highlights.
Searage told Brink that Charlie Morton was "blowing up" rehabilitation schedule, but he needs to be careful with arm strength and long toss. That's certainly good news. It's becoming more and more possible that Morton could be ready for the beginning of the season and might not even miss a start. If the Pirates put him in the #5 spot they'll have an extra week, and it sounds like Morton could very well be ready to start by April 11th or so.
Erik Bedard told Searage that this offseason was the "first time [in a long time] that he didn't have to do a throwing program that was detailed for rehab". That's more good news, since Bedard has had huge problems with injuries the last few years. A different offseason that isn't focused on recovering from an injury could be just what he needs to get his 2012 innings count back up.
Lastly, Searage said that last year's staff didn't have sore arms, but tired legs that caused their arms to work harder and resulted in the breakdown we saw in the mid to late second half of the season. That's also good news, I suppose, because you never want to mess around with sore arms, tired legs are a much better thing to have to deal with.
We're getting closer and closer to spring training, so baseball talk like this should become more commonplace as the days pass. Keep coming back to The "Mc" Effect, I'll have it all covered for you.