PITTSBURGH — Baseball is all about situations. Every play is dictated by situational nuances, from outs and runners on base to opposing scouting reports and shifts.
All of that can be a lot for a young ballplayer to take in. For a player that’s played a half-dozen positions, it’s significantly multiplied.
That’s why Adam Frazier is excited to continue to get major-league work this week even though the Pirates have been eliminated from contention. He’s hoping that in these last few games, he will cross off some situations that haven’t come up, some lessons he hasn’t learned and some mistakes he hasn’t yet made. The goal is, when 2017 comes around, “I never saw that before” won’t be in his vocabulary.
“I’m just trying to improve every day still,” he said. “Today, we did a little early work on some stuff defensively that I can get a little bit better at. I’ll take these few days, not take them for granted and try to get better.”
Frazier also pointed out that even though the Pirates are out of the race, these are still big situations. Wednesday night, he lead off against Cubs ace Jake Arrieta. This coming series, the Cardinals will be attempting to make up ground in the playoff race against the Pirates.
That helps keep things focused for the young players that are hoping to finish the season strong and squeeze every ounce of knowledge out of their major-league experience.
“As I go on, you feel that happen,” Frazier said. “Every day in the big leagues is a new day. Anything can happen.”
Manager Clint Hurdle said that Frazier’s approach as a pinch-hitter is one area where those little experiences can go a long way.
“Pinch hitting, he didn’t do very well for me, but it’s a lot to ask,” Hurdle said, but he expects those results to come around in the future based on what he sees. “The actual approach to hitting is clean and short, which I’m a big fan of. For a guy his age, it is impressive. You’re asking him to pinch hit and he’s always been the (regular) player, not the pinch hitter. It’s a whole different ballgame.”
INJURY NOTES
Trainer Todd Tomczyk updated the media on a few of the team’s injured players.
• Neftali Feliz has been cleared to throw “sub-maximally” off a mound. He should have no effects going forward.
• A.J. Schugel had a second opinion on his shoulder, which confirmed the team’s original diagnosis of rotator cuff inflammation. He is also on schedule to have a normal offseason.
• Tomczyk reiterated that Josh Harrison (groin) could have played if the team had made it to the NLDS.
• He also noted that the longer spring training, due to the 2017 World Baseball Classic, gives the team optimism that all of their injured players will be at full strength going into the season.
