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
last might next tired
Because there might not be a next time. You get tired of next time. You need to do it this time. We said a lot of 'get 'em next time' last year.
click pitches staying
He's staying on pitches so well. He's got power. When he catches the ball, he can click it.
barrel bat drive focus forward help looking productive role swinging talked watching
He's swinging the bat very well. He's got some barrel down there to drive in some runs. There are some things we've talked to him about we want him to focus on and take into the season, but I'm just looking forward to watching him play in that role and getting more opportunities to help us be productive offensively as well as defensively.
consistency flashes league major minor period power pull pulling seen short taken throughout
He's exhibited Major League power in the Minor Leagues. We've seen some flashes of it at this level. He's taken it and been able to put it in play with some consistency for a short period of time. That's what we're all pulling for him to pull off throughout the season.
ball cage flashes hard hitting leagues minor power seen
He's exhibited major-league power in the minor leagues and we've seen some flashes of it at this level. He's working hard in (batting practice) and he's working hard in the cage and hitting the ball hard where it's pitched.
freedom good hitter power run smart third
He's our third baseman. We'll give him the freedom to play. We're not going to give him any power goals. We feel he's a good enough hitter and a smart enough hitter to be a good run producer.
outside prepare
He's probably on the outside track, but we have to prepare for a lot of different scenarios.
front three work
But to get out of there with three runs, he did OK. He got some things accomplished but he's got work in front of him.
breaking centered command confident fastball feels found head improved spring thinks
He thinks he's found something, a little something to keep his head centered and still on the plate. He made better pitches. His fastball command improved as a the spring went on, his breaking ball sharpened up. He feels confident going into the season.
ability bit help himself slow trying
I'm trying to help him slow himself down a little bit. He was a little bit better (Wednesday) night, but I have an ability to slow him down a little bit more.
fastball previous seen
He pitched without the fastball we've seen previous to this,
strikes struggled throw
He really struggled to throw any strikes (on the third-base side) of the plate,
gets hurt
He's never going to hurt the lineup when he gets back in.
confident happen happy learn
He's not happy about it. He'll learn from it. It won't happen again; I'm confident of that.