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
giving middle slow spring
Just giving him a rest, right in the middle of spring training. We just want to slow him down a little bit.
best games strung together
He's strung together probably two of the best games in the big leagues.
guy hard saw threw throwing
I saw a guy throwing hard but without a lot of command. It was hard to watch. We got to get him tightened up. He threw a lot of pitches.
against confidence defense gives guys hitting initiate last months people pitch run season solid teams three timely type
The confidence that comes from getting on any type of run gives you that confidence once you initiate that run again. We've got to pitch well, we've got to play solid defense and we've got to get timely hitting and execute, which is what we did for the last three months last season - with a lot of guys people didn't know against a lot of teams with some pretty big names.
both easier fastball game good hit sides split top worked
He hit his spots, had a good split and worked his fastball on both sides of the plate. We're not on top of our game offensively and he didn't make it any easier on us.
believe momentum patience position providing showing team
I do believe we are in this position by showing patience and providing opportunities during the season. I don't want to take away from any momentum the team has gained.
believe grow half last learning ourselves players position process saw season second surprise
We've put ourselves in position to surprise people. We went through a learning process last year, and I think you saw in the second half of the season that our young players started to believe they could compete. We started to grow as a franchise.
ball changed good guy pirates seen strikes threw uniform
He pitched a good ball game. He was very efficient, threw strikes and changed speeds. We've seen him in a Pirates uniform and he's a no-nonsense guy who comes right after people.
It got us going in the right direction.
best catcher defensive national number people
I've had a number of people come up to me this spring, unsolicited, and tell me that he's the best defensive catcher in the National League.
believe heart pitching win
I believe in my heart that if we are to going to win here (long-term), ... it's going to be with pitching and defense.
chance guy head heart kid older pushing script unless work
I had a script but didn't need it. There's no chance for this to work unless his head and heart are in the right place, and they are. He's not a 23-year-old kid pushing the older guy out of the rotation, and he realizes that.
believe starting surprise
Nothing he is going to do is going to surprise me. Like a lot of our players, he is starting to believe in himself.
both game innings opportunity split
There's nothing to read into that. It's the first opportunity to get him in a game and try to split the innings up and give them both opportunity to pitch.