Pittsburgh Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington talked Josh Bell at cleanup, Adam Frazier & much more during his weekly radio show.
Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington makes a weekly radio hit on the team’s flagship radio station 93.7 The Fan. Each Sunday, Pirates Breakdown will bring you a recapping of Huntington’s show, picking out the best tidbits from the show, hosted by Greg Brown. Let’s get started.
All quotes are direct from Neal Huntington as told to Greg Brown.
On Josh Bell in the cleanup spot, and if he can stay there even when Gregory Polanco returns
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]One of the conversations we had with the lineup and where Clint Hurdle will ultimately go with when Polanco was headed to the DL….we don’t want guys hung up on where they are hitting in the lineup; it was more about opportunities and lineup maximization; not about a hitter lining up for a spot; it’s about getting your best hitter as many opportunities as you can. [/perfectpullquote]At this point, Brown and Huntington launched into a lengthy conversation on devising batting orders. That conversation has been omitted for length, but as part of the conversation, Brown asked Huntington a question about the team’s most visible hitter.
On when the time is right to tinker with Andrew McCutchen
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]We expect Andrew is going to get the results that the numbers behind the scenes tell us he should have. We expect the line drives to start falling; we expect better results from the barrel that he’s putting out there. We’ll see. If the struggles continue…we look forward to getting Starling Marte back, to Polanco back…if we do that we have 5,6,7 good hitters instead of three or four…that’s when we can get on a roll offensively, and when that’s happening, you don’t necessarily care who’s hitting where.[/perfectpullquote]On what makes Adam Frazier such a good major league hitter
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Adam has that knack to ge the barrel to the ball; uses the whole field doesn’t let his ego get involved; recognizes offpeeed and breaking pitches very well out of the hand. He makes pitchers bring a pitch to him. Great feel in the batter’s box; very basic stance and swing; but has pop for a “little guy.” Again, just a very intelligent on base-driven hitter.[/perfectpullquote]On the prospects of Jung Ho Kang returning to the team at any point, and on reports that say that the Pittsburgh Pirates will not see him back
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]As we as an organization indicated, we are working through exactly what that means. At this point anybody writing anything or stating anything is purely speculative.[/perfectpullquote]On how Chad Kuhl can get back on track
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]We would like to see him get back to what got him here; and that is that sinker down in the zone; the 100, 98 mph is not what got Kuhl here. He needs to get the ball down then come up in the zone with a four-seam fastball. We have to get him back to doing the things that got him here, then using the upper 90s fastballs as a weapon.[/perfectpullquote]On Kuhl’s best weapon vs. left-handed bats
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]That four-seamer in can be a weapon, that sinker in; that changeup…it’s that combination that will allow him to open up both sides of the plate and up and down…when the [hitters] can lock in on something, that’s when he gets in trouble[/perfectpullquote]On recent waiver claim for RHP Jhan Marinez
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]it’s an arm that we like, a low to mid 90s fastball with good movement down in the zone; we’ve seen a good slider over the years though not this year…these are the types of players we have had success with over the years.[/perfectpullquote]Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
