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Maximizing efficiency, two coaches hit infield practice while another tosses balls Thursday. -- DEJAN KOVACEVIC[/caption]
BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
BRADENTON, Fla. -- Roundup of a lot of randomness from a lot of time around our teams ...
• No competition in spring training?
That's undeniably true among the Pirates' position players and starting pitchers, barring health issues, but management and the coaching staff have taken concrete, including behind-the-scenes, steps to ensure it doesn't apply to the bullpen.
Yes, the picture looks almost as airtight there: Mark Melancon, Tony Watson and Antonio Bastardo are locks. Jared Hughes and John Holdzkom are near-locks, and I separate those two mostly because both have options and could be demoted with a decisively discouraging spring. If they fare well, they'll fly north.
That would appear to leave two more spots, but it's really just one.
As Neal Huntington laid out for me Thursday in stark detail, "We anticipate that the odd man out of our rotation, assuming Charlie Morton's health, will be one of our multi-inning relievers."
That's a clear reference to Vance Worley and Jeff Locke, one of whom will be bumped to the pen if Morton recovers from hip surgery for opening day. More on that later.
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