Tucker excited for chance to return to short
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Who will be the starting shortstop when the Pirates play the Cubs on Opening Day?
It’s anybody’s guess. The competition for the starting spot begins Sunday when Pittsburgh opens its Grapefruit League season against the Orioles, and Cole Tucker made it known Friday afternoon that he would like the job.
Tucker will be competing against Erik González, Kevin Newman and Wilmer Difo. If he doesn’t win the job, he could easily be a utility player. Last year, he played most of the season in the outfield, plus three innings at second base. Tucker was then informed in an exit meeting with manager Derek Shelton and general manager Ben Cherington that he would be competing for the 2021 shortstop job.
Being back at shortstop would mean being part of the action for Tucker.
“It’s no secret I was drafted as a shortstop. I feel most comfortable there,” said Tucker, who played 45 games at shortstop in 2019. “Last year was fun running around the outfield. I feel like a more complete player and a better player on the infield. That’s just me being honest, but I had a blast [playing the outfield]. I’m looking forward to being back in the infield.”
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Tucker must show he can hit with consistency. In 256 at-bats, Tucker has a .215 career average.
To get his timing down at the plate, Tucker said he has done a lot of work on the velocity machine. On Friday, for example, he was trying to hit hard curveballs. He was also involved in live batting practice.
As he put it, he doesn’t want to give the Pirates a lot of options. He wants to be the guy at shortstop.
“I worked a ton on my swing this offseason. The biggest basic key is my stability and being able to control my body in the box,” Tucker said. “I feel like, and [hitting coach] Rick [Eckstein] feels like, that I came in with a better swing than I had last year, which is awesome.
“But now, it’s being able to stabilize [that swing]. … I’ve had spurts in my big league career where I’m really good for a little bit of time. Everything is synced up and everything is under control, and I’m hitting the ball hard all over the place. When I’m not, it’s not that fun to watch. It’s not that fun to do. It’s getting to a point where my body is strong and stable enough to control it.”
Kuhl takes the mound
Pirates right-hander Chad Kuhl will pitch the Spring Training opener against the Orioles on Sunday, 1:05 p.m. ET at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla. Shelton doesn’t know how many innings Kuhl will pitch. Kuhl was 2-3 with a 4.27 ERA in 11 games, including nine starts, for Pittsburgh last year.
Shelton indicated the game might go seven innings, but the team has to talk with the Orioles first.