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.
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.
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.
command deserves fastball innings normally pat pitcher run short statement
His fastball was short (Friday), and his command was mediocre. That being said, you're normally not able to make that statement and have a pitcher only give up one run in five-plus innings at Coors Field. So he deserves a pat on the back for that.
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.
board chance concerns few major pitcher runs
He had a chance to put the pitcher away and keep all those runs off the board but he wasn't able to do it and the inning unraveled on him. But he's got a few more starts. I don't have any major concerns about him.
available best close mentality ninth pitcher
He understands the mentality of why we use him in the ninth in close ballgames because he's the best pitcher we have available out there,
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?