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.
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,
case choose hit pitches todd
It wasn't just a case of Todd not getting pitches to hit, that is way too simplistic. That was part of it. Sometimes, of course, they're going to choose not to pitch to him. He had pitches to hit. He just didn't hit them. He'll be the first one to tell you that.
game left message might night road talked todd trip
I talked to Todd (on Sunday) night after the game and left another message for him (Monday) morning. He told me he might not make it on this road trip and laughed.
anyone anytime ball consistency harder hit todd
has hit the ball harder with more consistency than anyone on this ballclub. Anytime you have Todd Helton on your ballclub, that's something.
capable drop maybe move people played replace todd
It's played out well so far. We've got options. You're never going to replace a Todd Helton, but you've got capable people that can come in and you can move some people around. It's not as big a drop off as maybe we've had in the past.
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,
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.
steps
This is just another step, and we have a lot of steps to take to get where we want to be.