Notes: Duke, Maholm tinker in debuts

03/03/2006
BRADENTON, Fla. -- Pirates sophomore southpaws Zach Duke and Paul Maholm made their first appearances of the spring Friday against the Washington Nationals at McKechnie Field.
And while neither lefty had the kind of flawless performances they were probably hoping for, both came away feeling as though they were making progress toward the start of the season.
Duke, who has to be considered a top candidate to take the ball against the Milwaukee Brewers on Opening Day, struggled somewhat with the command of his two-seam fastball but managed to limit the visiting Nats to just one run on two hits while fanning two during his two innings of work.
"I felt pretty good. I left two pitches up in the zone that got hit hard. It's not a big deal," said Duke. "I got the adrenaline and the competitive juices going. It was nice."
Duke spent most of his 27-pitch performance trying to perfect the weight-transfer adjustments he has made to his pitching delivery this spring.
"When I do it right, I'm very successful locating the ball. When I do it wrong, sometimes I leave some pitches up," said Duke. "I felt like I did it well for the most part."
Maholm, who is slated to be the Bucs' No. 3 starter despite having just six big league appearances under his belt, had a tougher go of it than Duke. In two innings, Maholm allowed three runs on five hits, including a two-run home run by Washington right fielder Ryan Church in the third inning.
"It was good to get back out there," said Maholm. "I think I was maybe a little too anxious. I was falling behind hitters."
Like Duke, Maholm is still trying to work out some kinks in his delivery.
"I was just too quick, opening up, and I couldn't put the ball where I wanted," said Maholm. "I work off of my breaking ball and my command. Neither one of them was there today. I was disappointed in it. But I also know it's the first Spring Training game, and it's going to get better.
"I'll just work on this between now and my next time and hopefully build on it."
Sign 'em up: The Pirates came to terms with eight players on Thursday, including pitchers Sean Burnett, John Grabow, Mike Johnston and Ian Snell, catcher Humberto Cota and infielders Jose Bautista Brad Eldred and Javier Guzman.
Four others -- Duke, closer Mike Gonzalez, center fielder Chris Duffy and second baseman Jose Castillo -- refused to sign and had their contracts renewed by the team.
Because players with less than three years of service time have no leverage in negotiations, they are forced to accept what their teams offer them. Their refusal to sign is simply a ceremonial way for them to express their displeasure with the contract they are offered.
Pirates GM Dave Littlefield is not concerned that his closer, starting center fielder and second baseman, and potential ace starter would hold a grudge against the club.
"It was a decision they made. They disagree with where we slotted them in our scale," said Littlefield. "I think we've seen since the time that I've been here that it really has very little meaning. It's a one-day event. They made their decision.
"We signed a vast majority of the players who agreed to the scale. That's the decision they made. We'll move on."
Duke, who was reportedly offered $335,000 for the 2006 season after going 8-2 with a 1.81 ERA in 14 starts a year ago, was not fazed by the process.
"No big deal. I'm not unhappy or anything. It's just one of those things. "It's a business," he said.
"It's just kind of a rite of passage type thing. You put your time in. The paydays will come."
On the run: Sean Casey's first at-bat of his Pirates career will go into the books as a double to right field. What the box score can't show is the way he got it.
Although Casey did drill a bullet down the left-field line, he wasn't exactly able to stroll into second base. In fact, his head-first slide into second looked a lot like a barrel roll.
"My wife always jokes around about my grace," joked Casey. "Somebody was saying, 'That wasn't the most beautiful slide.' I said, 'Just get used to it. That's how I slide.'"
Ugly slide aside, Casey was happy to finally get back on the field for game action after plenty of drills at Pirate City.
"You can only take so much BP and so many ground balls," said Casey. "No matter what, in your first Spring Training game you get the juices flowing. It's competition. You see where you at. It's good to get in the games."
As for the double, "It's good to get a hit out of the way. But I know what really matters is April 3. I'm still trying to get myself ready for that."
Meet and greet: As part of the Pirates' annual on-site open house for individual ticket sales, Littlefield will once again be on hand at PNC Park to speak with Pirates fans.
It's an event Littlefield says he looks forward to every year.
"I always do. It's a good opportunity to visit and talk about Pirate baseball with some very passionate fans and some very interested fans that, a lot of times, study [the team] quite a bit. They're educated."
Individual-game tickets will be available beginning at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday at PNC Park, online at pirates.com or via the telephone at 1-800-BUY-BUCS.
On deck: The Pirates will make the trek to Ft. Myers on Saturday to take on the Boston Red Sox. Southpaw Sean Burnett will make his first start of the spring for the Bucs against former Pirates right-hander Bronson Arroyo. Tom Gorzelanny, Gonzalez, Grabow, Ron Chiavacci and Scott Strickland are also scheduled to pitch for the Pirates.

Source: http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/