Neal Huntington met with reporters prior to Sunday’s Pittsburgh Pirates game against the Milwaukee Brewers. Here are some highlights of said press conference.
- On Neftali Feliz: “Feliz feels better today. It’s more muscular than connective tissue. That is our read right now.
- On Jake Brentz and Pedro Vasquez, the relievers the Pirates picked up in Caminero trade: “We had a list of players we agreed to when we traded Caminero there. We tracked them with multiple scouts and took different looks and looked at video of them. In each case, it’s a young solid athlete with a good frame and a projectable pitcher with some now pitches. These guys have a lot of the traits that we look for.”
- Ivan Nova trade: “Most of the times when you see that there’s a player to be named later, you see a list that the choosing or sending team has depending on the parameters of the deal.”
- Jung Ho Kang Triple-A rehab: “The first day he obviously played very strong. He drove a ball out over the plate, didn’t try to do too much with it and absolutely destroyed it. He did not get any defensive chances. Last night, it was a baseball game. You expect the major leaguers to go down and hit 12-for-12 with four home runs and it doesn’t happen. Baseball is a challenging game, and the guys in Triple-A are working just as hard.”
- Gerrit Cole’s progression: “Gerrit has worked through the discomfort, now it’s all about getting the mechanics back so he can execute and help us win a game. Assuming he feels strong and healthy then we would be lining up for him to make the start on Sept. 12.”
- On club’s inconsistencies but close nature to NL Wild Card spot: “These guys show up fighting to win every day. Each of our last 20 losses are by four runs or less. Eight of our last nine losses are by two runs or less. We push forward and have to continue to find ways to get guys on base to start innings better. We have to get our offense rolling again. Our pitching has carried us in the second half and our offense carried us in the first half. In each case, it’s put us to where we’re 2.5 games out of a playoff spot. We get both of those things clicking, we could be that club that rolls and finds ourselves the hottest and healthiest team going into the postseason. That’s the goal but every day we don’t make it happen today, it’s one less day to make it happen.”
- Dramatic rotation changes from April to September: “The young pitchers have stepped in and done a nice job, and Nova has stepped in and done a nice job. The bullpen has turned it over and that’s gone well, a couple of games withstanding. It’s a credit to our staff and scout and the work they’ve done to help us win games. It’s the bar we talk about. It’s not just being ready for the majors, but to help a playoff-caliber team and that’s a much higher bar than 3-4 years ago. That’s a good sign for the organization.”
- Chris Stewart: “Chris has been the consummate professional. I’m sure he wanted to come back earlier than he did, but he also recognized the catching depth and we had two catchers banged up this year. Keeping things slower allowed for us to keep our catching depth. Chris could have shut it down this season, but he wants to help this team and it’s about those teammates and selling out to those 12 pitchers or 15-17 by the time September is over.”
- On Gift Ngoepe and Dovydas Neverauskas’ suspensions and what led to the decision: “We want guys to make good decisions on and off the field and they did not put themselves in a position to make a good decision. They made a bad decision and there was a punishment that corresponded to that. We felt seven games was appropriate and that happened to coincide with it ending their season. We expect them to learn from that and hopefully other guys will learn from that.”
