Neal Huntington Show Continues To Mystify Pittsburgh Pirates Fans

The Neal Huntington Show just concluded and we have some notes for you.

Anyway, on with the show.

Francisco Liriano was the focus of the show. One thing we always hate…actually a pet peeve is the use of phrases such as ‘I won’t lie to you,’ or ‘I am not going to lie,’ or  ‘truth be told.’

So when are you supposed to believe people that use that phrase?  Huntington said ‘truth be told….. Clint was hoping for five innings from Liriano.’ Of course he pitched 5.1 innings against the Mets yesterday and struckout nine.

The discussion went at length about Liriano.

The important topic of Jordy Mercer was buried right into a break.   Listed below are the responses about Mercer staying in the big leagues when Neil Walker returns.  You tell me what you think will happen:

*We can’t make emotional decisions.

*Fans hate when I say this, but we have to think about one, two, four years down the road.

*Huntington’s major point was the need for acquiring John McDonald still exists. Huntington mentioned that Chase d’Arnaud is still not going to return until June 1.

*The Bucs GM mentioned that Mercer’s OPS was .630 heading into Friday. (He failed to mention John McDonald’s OPS, but heh, whatever…Tim from Pirates Prospects tweeted it was .276)

*Mercer he had a great spring training….he is an internal candidate for the SS position in 2014….he has shown us that he can contribute down the road, now that time might be sooner.  (Not sure how that even makes sense, but anyway)

So there you have it…we have to think Jordy Mercer is going to be headed back to Triple-A when Walker comes off the DL tomorrow.

I always enjoy the feedback during the Neal Huntington show…

Line of the show: 

"We have a ton of pitchers that could come up and contribute for the team."

Some other topics included:

The Pirates considered taking Matt Harvey in the draft. (Selected Jameson Taillon instead)

Tony Sanchez was spoken about in a positive way. Sanchez is doing what we need him to do, Huntington said.

The Pirates are going to stretch out Jeff Karstens and then determine where the organization is in terms of “need.” So perhaps Karstens would return to the Bucs in a relief role should they need it.

Charlie Morton is going to begin his rehab assignments tomorrow.