BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) -The left fielder’s job was Nyjer Morgan’s to lose when the Pittsburgh Pirates started spring training. With two weeks of camp remaining, he apparently must prove he hasn’t lost it.
Morgan, the Pirates’ fastest outfielder and a strong defensive player but one who lacks power, is struggling offensively during a rough spring that has them exploring other options for opening day April 6 in St. Louis.
With offseason pickups Eric Hinske and Craig Monroe ready to step in if needed, Morgan finds himself competing for a job that was supposed to be his. Monroe, formerly of the Tigers, is pushing to make the team after hitting six homers in his first 46 spring at-bats.
“I’m not pressing, I’m not stressing or anything like that, it’s just that nothing’s falling,” said Morgan, who is hitting .173 with eight strikeouts in 52 at-bats. “I’m having good at-bats at times, but it’s not on a consistent basis like I wanted.”
ed to him that he might be playing himself out of a job.
“This is the time where you kind of want to lock it in, with two weeks left,” Morgan said Sunday. “You want to lock it in and get it going. I definitely feel like I’m fine. I want to keep the intensity going and find the consistency.”
General manager Neal Huntington wouldn’t say Morgan needs to find it in a hurry, but he also said very personnel decision is performance-based – and, so far, the Pirates apparently aren’t getting what they want from Morgan.
“Nyjer, at times, has shown us some quality things. When he gets on base he’s a disruptive force, but it’s about getting on base enough,” Huntington said, an apparent reference to Morgan’s .211 on-base percentage. “He’s expanded the zone too much, he hasn’t utilized the bunt enough. He does need to take some steps forward.”
Especially with outfielder Andrew McCutchen, a former first-round draft pick and one of the Pirates’ top prospects, still in camp despite being ticketed for Triple-A Indianapolis to start the season.
“We can’t wait to see him in Pittsburgh fulltime, once he shows us he’s ready,” Huntington said of McCutchen.
ent much of the season in Triple-A.
Morgan re-entered the Pirates’ plans by hitting .347 from Aug. 19 through the end of the season after rejoining them, reaching base in 25 of his last 27 starts.
“It’s awfully hard to lose a job in spring training,” Huntington said. “We talked very openly about it, it’s their jobs to keep. Nothing was written in stone among those younger players, they needed to go out and show us. .. But, because we have options, we need to see some performance.”
The Pirates were encouraged at seeing Brandon Moss back in right field on Sunday, the first time he’s played there for them since spraining his right thumb March 7. Since then, Moss was a designated hitter in one game and played defensively once in a minor league game.
Moss is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery on Oct. 3, so the Pirates were eager to get him back on the field with enough time left in camp for him to get comfortable at the plate before opening day.
Add A Comment