Pedro Alvarez Looks Good, Smoking Hot Pittsburgh Pirates Links

The first day of Spring Training

for the Pittsburgh Pirates is complete and the stories are flying.  The big thing we wanted to see was Pedro Alvarez.  Yep, still looks like a ballplayer to me.

The Bucs will officially announce their closer, gotta go with Joel Hanrahan.  Ryan Doumit is out to prove he is still a starter.  The new batting practic jerseys rock.  Ronny Cedeno had his number stolen by Clint Hurdle, Cedeno will now wear number five.

Here are some of the stories that caught our eye.

"Hurdle instructed the team to perform with a sense of urgency, a message that coach Nick Leyva re-enforced in infield drills. When shortstop Josh Rodriguez gave up on a groundball that was out of his reach, Leyva said, ”Hey, J.R., you’re gonna have to make a play like that once in a while.”"

Clipped from: www.theintelligencer.net (share this clip)

"“Number one, defensing their position when the ball has left their hand,” Hurdle said.“No. 2, it’s holding runners with efficiency as far as varying their release times off the mound, incorporating a slidestep.“No. 3, become much more effective in their pickoff moves when those are put into play,” Hurdle said. “Their throws to first, quick feet, the ball coming out of the glove, getting good throws that can be handled at first base, or at second base.“Definitely getting off the mound and fielding bunts, not just fielding balls that are hit back at them. But getting outs when they’re down and available to us.”"

Clipped from: www.heraldtribune.com (share this clip)

 
After reading this report by Jen Langosch, we have a hunch Kevin Hart and Donnie Veal are going to start the season the DL.

Clipped from: pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com (share this clip)

The Pirates photo gallery is pretty sweet at this link. 

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