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
behind change direction front land layout marks starting
We're starting to make some marks in the right direction on the road. The layout of the land behind us is what it is. We can't change that. We can change what's in front of us.
couple either guys last quality redeeming slow stretch
That's been a redeeming quality, that he has been able to slow things down and been able to get an inning over with before it completely got out of hand. He said he has not been comfortable out of the stretch the last couple of games. I told him I didn't think he was lying. I told him either we have to find a way to make him comfortable or for him to not let any guys get on.
couple decision hard involved league staying
That was the hard decision we had to look at a couple of times. Would it just be better for him to go down, let him play, or keep him here and have him working and staying involved in a big league environment?
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.
ballgame couple early gone innings kept passion saw south
I think you saw the passion he has for competition. The way he kept after it and kept us in the ballgame - a couple early innings could have gone south on him. He didn't let it happen.
balls blast coming couple good hits looking struck watching
I am having a blast watching Stewart play. That is a big day with a couple of hits coming off left-hand arms. He struck balls well in the big part of the ballpark. He is a good looking young player.
initially
Initially we just wanted him to be able to get healthy. And now for him to come back and be able to pitch, that's a plus.
further physically seems stretch
I don't know that we want to stretch him out further than that. . . . He doesn't have an old body. He seems to be pretty physically fit.
alarming number
His strikeouts are a little alarming for his number of at-bats,
group todd win
I think it was as important for the group to win without Todd in the lineup as it was for Todd to see the group win without him,
aware gate gotten happy roll slow
He is well aware he has come out of the gate slow and then gotten on a roll by the end of May. He is not happy with it, and we think there is better there. We know there is better there. It is up to him.
answering ball challenged hit seen talk
You talk about being challenged and answering the challenge. He has hit the ball (recently) as well as I have ever seen him hit the ball.
avoiding expect factors finishing games home last motivating record winning
Having a winning record at home or avoiding finishing last weren't motivating factors for us. When you are 27 games under .500, can we really expect to be better at home?
opportunity pitches presented wasting
He's been working on an assortment of pitches to use if that opportunity is ever presented to him. I think he's wasting his time.