///////////////////////// //////////////////////////////////////////////////// SPECIAL SECTION MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PREVIEW BASEBALL’17 SUNDAY,APRIL 2, 2017 Q&A WITH PIRATESGMNEALHUNTINGTON KEVIN GORMAN Pirates’ starsmust Pirates general bounce manager Neal Huntington smilesas backwith he watches battingpractice at George vengeance Steinbrenner Field before a game against the Ya nkees oexplainhow the on March 5. Pirates dropped20 Tgames in one season, from 98 wins in 2015 to 78 CHRISTOPHER HORNER|TRIBUNE-REVIEW last year,requires the ex- pertise of abaseball man. Don’t look at me. No,we’retalking about someone whoisinvested in changing the culture of baseball in Pittsburgh, someone whohas promised to field ateam thatcan “con- HOPE & tend forchampionships.” Or,you know, just make the playoffsasawildcard. After twodecades of los- ing baseball, we loweredour standards enough to believe Pirates owner Bob Nutting wants to be awinner —even CHANGE if he doesn’t want to,you know, payfor one. But Nutting, whowatched the Pirates qualify forthe 10 YEARSLATER, HUNTINGTON’S National League playoffs three consecutive seasons from 2013-15, has an interest- ing takeonthe 2016 Buccos: MESSAGEREMAINS THE SAME “Weended up with the season we did because the team and organization BY ROBBIERTEMPFEL underperformed the levelof talent thatwehad,” Nutting Aroundthe time “hope and change” wasbecomingahip political slogan, Neal Huntington broughtthosewords said. “I don’t think it was intothe lexicon of thePirates’front office. nearly so muchthatwe didn’t have sufficient talent “Wewill systematicallyworktochangethe cultureofthisorganization and to returnittoaconsistentwinner to makethe run. We had forthe city of Pittsburgh,” Huntington said after being hiredasgeneral managerSept. 25, 2007. some very good players who As Huntington begins his10thseason, his message remains thesame. did not performuptothe Therewas amelancholiathatshrouded the franchisefor twodecades—epitomized by the “Welcometohell” expectations thatwehad. Ireallythink it’s farmore greetingaveteranPirateonce gave to aguy whohad justbeentradedtothe team. That sour moodwas snapped by execution than what we had threestraight winningseasons from 2013-15. put together.” UnderHuntington, thePirateshaveinvestedheavily in playerdevelopment and have been at theleadingedgeof So,it’s not thatthe Pirates analytics.The restockedfarmsystem hasbeen ranked the bestinthe game.SeveralofHuntington’slieutenants were pitching poorly,relying too heavilyonrookies in have beenrecruitedfor prominent roleswithother clubs. the starting rotation.It’s Yet, the2013 wild-card winoverthe CincinnatiReds is thePirates’onlysignificant postseason victoryofthe not thatthey let go of two Huntington era. Thereremainsworktobedone. former first-round picks and franchise building blocks At theoutset of the2017 season, Huntington looked backonhis time with the Piratesduring aone-on-one with in Neil Walker and Pedro Tribune-Review beatwriter RobBiertempfel. Alvarez,whose replace- ments failed to matchtheir production. Tr ib: When youstarted this job,how much of your plan forhow to build and run the club wasalready in It’s thatthe very good place? And howmuch has it morphed overthe years? players didn’t do their part, asuggestion thatthe Huntington: Alot of it wasconceptualized before struggles fell squarelyon we came in the door.After talking with Bob (Nutting) the shoulders of former and Frank (Coonelly), we bought intothe concept of let’s All-Stars likeAndrew see what the 2008 club could do.They’ddone anice McCutchen, Gerrit Cole and job (in 2007) and appeared to be ready to take the next Josh Harrison. stepforward. Thereweresome established position And youknowwhat? players,although mostofthem were approaching free Nutting is right. agency. Therewasn’tmuch in the farm systemother Of course,it’sall of those than (Andrew)McCutchen, (Neil) Walker and Brad things and much, much Lincoln. We knewweweregoing to have to invest more. ThePirates were heavily in the draft and in the international market. We flawed, especiallyincom- knewthereneeded to be some changeoverinpersonnel parison to the WorldSeries and some changesinsystems and structures. champion Chicago Cubs. Unfortunately,2008 did not go well. We were below But if the Pirates want .500 at the trade deadline,sowemade the decision to return to winningways, to move those veteranplayers who were nearing free if they want to compete for agencyand go full force intotalent-accumulation mode. the NL Central Division title So much of that first year wasabout discovering and aspotinthe playoffs, what wasgood and who wasgood and who could be it’s goingtorequirebetter performances. part of the futureonand off the field. The next phase McCutchen and Cole are wastalent accumulation, then talent development, the other former first- then major league team maturation, then “Let’s rounders expected to be the push this thing forwardand figureout away to win a cornerstone players forthe World Series.”Soalot (ofthe plan) wasinplaceearly. CHRISTOPHER HORNER |TRIBUNE-REVIEW Pirates.Their dropoffs last We’veevaluated and evolved overtime,for sure. But season hurttremendously, Pirates general manager Neal Huntington talks with conceptually,alot of it wasinplaceaswewalked in so bounce-backyears are Josh Bell beforeaspring training game March 15 at the door.Maybe that’s part of the reason whyBob and necessary. LECOMPark in Bradenton, Fla. Frank offered me the position. McCutchen’s batting aver- HUNTINGTON·6 age slipped from .317 in his MVP season to .256 last year, his strikeouts increased »Abreakdown of Huntington’shistory of draftsand trades PAGE 7 by 42 and his stolen bases decreased by 21. INSIDE »Howthe Pirates mustimprove to catchthe Cubs PAGE 2 After being shopped in the offseason, McCutchen is GORMAN · 6 2 · SUNDAY, APRIL 2, 2017 BASEBALL’17 CATCHINGTHECUBS CLOSINGTHEGAP PIRATES HAVE SEVERAL AREAS TO IMPROVE IN PURSUIT OF CUBS, NL CENTRAL BY ROBBIERTEMPFEL Performanceagainst Last season, the Pirates did not finish merelyafew games out of first place in the NL Central standings.They were buried. relief pitcher 1 Thechasm between the Pirates and first-place Chicago Cubs was 30 ⁄2 games.Itwas the Pirates’ biggest division deficit since 2010, when the team amassed 105 losses and finished 34 games behind Cincinnati Reds. CAREER ThePirates were eliminated from the NL Central race Sept. 11. Sixteen days later,they were knockedout of the hunt fora BA OPS wild-cardberth. .293 .757 1 Thesecond NL wild-cardspot went to the San Francisco Giants,who wound up 8 ⁄2 games ahead of the Pirates. 2016 “Everybodywas trying to give everything they had. We just didn’t have enough,” managerClint Hurdle said. “Sometimes, BA OPS the reality of just not being good enough can reallyinfuse youfor what youneed to do better.” FRANCISCOCERVELLI .274 .684 So what should the Pirates do better in 2017 to makeupground in the NL Central standings and NL wild-cardchase? long relieverfor twomonths. STARTSTRONG, Piratesdefensiveefficiency Cubs Pirates FINISH STRONGER Timing matters,too.Acluster CAREER Being at the forefront ofutilizing defensiveshiftshelped the of injuries,evenfor afew days, BA OPS During spring training last Pirates boosttheir defensiveefficiencyratefour yearsago. can be devastating. year,the players and coaches However,they’ve takenbig stepbackward the pasttwo seasons. Twenty-five percent of all .286 .732 kept stressing the importance trips to the DL in the majors 2016 of piling up early-season 68.1% 68.4% 69.2% 70.6% 69.5% 73.2% last year were made by right- victories.In2015, the Pirates 24th 25th 18th 4th 9th 1st BA OPS 75 handed starting pitchers. JOSH HARRISON wononly17oftheir first 35 69.4% ThePirates were bitbythat .253 .625 games. 11th 70 buginabad wayasGerrit Cole When they finished two and Jameson Taillon missed games out of first place in the time.Injurieswrecked Cole’s division, the Pirates looked 65 season, butTaillon was not CAREER backwistfullyatthose 18 losses 67.1% 67.8% 69.7% 69.8% 68% slowedbyhis DL stintand still BA OPS thatslipped away in April and 30th 29th 11th 8th 22nd puttogether asolid year. May. 60 .256 .716 67.9% 68.3% Cole (elbow), Chris Stewart ThePirates beganlastseason 26th 27th (knee surgery), Elias Diaz with 22 games against NL 2016 55 (infected leg), A.J.Schugel BA OPS Central teams and 13 against 201020112012 2013201420152016 (shoulder), Josh Harrison JOHN JASO .237 .703 non-contenders Detroit, Source:baseball-reference.com TRIBUNE-REVIEW (groin strain) and Starling San Diego,Arizona and Marte (lowerbacktightness) allowed4.68runs per game (the Colorado.They squandered the endedthe season on the DL. ninth-highest average). Piratesdays spent opportunity by going18-17. Also,Neftali Feliz didn’t pitch “Weknowweneed to Worse yet, the Pirates onthedisabledlist after Sept. 3(although he never CAREER improveondefense,” Hurdle staggeredtothe finish line, was placed on the DL) because BA OPS said. “We’retrying to play In terms of totaldayslost, the going 11-24. In thatstretch, they of an arminjury thatthe team fast butnot hurry,and that’s Pirates rank slightly better than .292 .801 were sweptathome by Miami, neverexplained. absorbed three losses against carrying over into our game. the MLB averageofthe past three seasons. Lastyear, they 2016 the Cubs to triggeraneight- They’regiftedathletes. racked up 805 totaldaysonthe ATTACK BULLPENS BA OPS game losing streak and were Sometimes when they makeit DL, the seventh-lowest totalin Compared to the 2015 season, sweptbythe Cardinalsinthe look