Russell Martin, Jeff Karstens, Jerry Sands On Pittsburgh Pirates Primer: 93.7 The Fan

We were able to hear a little bit of the show on 93.7 The Fan tonight.  Here is what we learned:

Jeff Karstens said he was in good health–‘my temperature is 98.6 degrees’ and the right hander mentioned he was happy to be back in Pittsburgh and much was made about his return by Pirates broadcaster Greg Brown.  After Brown’s diatribe, the connection to Karstens was lost.

Brown said Jose Tabata is 15 pounds lighter.  (Prepare for the Tabata is in the best shape of his career to start popping up)

Russell Martin spoke about his pitch framing ability and described it as a “gift I have.”  The new Bucs catcher said he wanted to be sure that it is known that he isn’t trying to trick the umpires.  Pitch framing has been a buzz word the past couple of years and Martin said he just tries to stay soft and keep the pitch in the zone.

When asked about James McDonald, Martin said he didn’t know that JMac was a father.  Yeh, a bit odd, but he explained that when Martin played with him in L.A. he thought of McDonald as a kid.

Martin talked about his wish to play shortstop for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic as we wrote earlier this year.  Martin said he wants to save his legs for the season.

Regarding his new pitching staff, Martin said his goal is to help them and “make them shine.”  He said he will do his homework and be certain to learn what motivates each of the members of the rotation.

Jerry Sands sounded really confused by the questions from Andrew and Tim.  When he was able to navigate around loaded questions like who is the better centerfielder Kemp or McCutchen, Sands played it down the middle.

Sands was one of the players acquired in the Joel Hanrahan trade and said the Dodgers handed him the fourth outfielder job on a platter last spring training.  Sands said he had a lot going on with his swing and tried to do too much in camp.

It bothered me that Sands seemed confused during he discussion.  I don’t know, I’m just weird that way.

Damn, the Fan is rolling in ad dollars.  But all in all, it was great to hear some Pirates talk again.  It’s eight days until we land in Florida.  Let’s Go Bucs!