Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton joined The Cook & Joe Show on 93.7 The Fan to discuss the players and outlook on the season.
Starkey started with man expected to be the face and future leader of the Pirates, Oneil Cruz, noting on his poor rate against breaking balls, especially in the second half of the season.
“It’s getting better. He is still making improvements. [Oneil] is really focusing on different parts of the zone that’s going to be important…you know, when he makes contact, there’s a lot of exciting things that will happen,” Shelton said of the work Cruz has been doing in Spring Training.
One thing all Pirates fans and the city of Pittsburgh have rejoiced on is the homecoming of Andrew McCutchen. It’s the first time he’ll sport the black and gold in six year, and this time as a mentor role for the younger players.
Shelton noted on how his role has been playing out, “The impact on our clubhouse, being very steady, has already shown itself on and off the field.”
Starkey wanted to know more about “his new favorite player” Rodolfo Castro who edged out the second base competition to start opening day,
“I would not classify him as our everyday second baseman. I think you’re going to see him there, you’re going to see [Ji Hwan] Bae there at the start of the season. He’ll probably play short when O’Neil doesn’t play and third when Key doesn’t,” Shelton explained.
Finally, they discussed the surprising move of leaving hot-hitting Travis Swaggery off the roster.
“We felt that Canaan [Smith-Njigba] had a really good camp and deserved to make the team. We’re going to use a lot of guys during the year and the strides we saw Travis make during Spring Training were really significant.”
There are going to be a lot more story lines to follow this year with an up and coming Pirates team, so be ready to watch an exciting season.