Notes: Perez pleased with outing

03/01/2006
BRADENTON -- The Pittsburgh Pirates prepared for their Grapefruit League schedule by downing Manatee Community College, 8-1, Wednesday afternoon before a crowd of 1,942 at McKechnie Field.
Lefty Oliver Perez started for the Pirates and struck out three in two scoreless innings of work. Of the 19 pitches Perez threw, four were not strikes.
"Right now, I feel good," said Perez, who will be leaving Pirates camp on Thursday to join Team Mexico for the World Baseball Classic. "I used my splitter, my slider was good and my location was good."
The fact that Perez was facing college students didn't affect his game plan. He threw at 100 percent velocity and incorporated the changes to his pitching delivery that he has been working on this spring with new pitching coach Jim Colborn.
"I was trying not to think of them as a college," said Perez. "You just have to compete to work them down and make sure they don't hit you hard."
Seven Pirates pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts and limited the Lancers to two hits. Manatee's lone run came on first baseman Kevin Clark's solo homer in the fourth inning against Bucs setup man Salomon Torres.
"We threw a ton of strikes and we made some very good 0-2 pitches," said Pirates manager Jim Tracy.
Tracy, who has continually preached the importance of patience at the plate, was impressed with his hitters' approaches against Manatee pitchers, who often struggled with their control. The Bucs had just seven hits, but they were able to coax eight walks. Lancer pitchers also hit three batters.
"As I said to them on the first day, any time you see a crooked number go up there in any half inning, more times than not there is a base on balls, or more than one, somewhere in the midst of that."
The eighth annual contest between the Pirates and the local college raised $9,710. The proceeds will be divided evenly between the Manatee County Schools Foundation and the Wakeland Elementary School, which is located directly across the street from the Pirate City training complex.
Duffy to DH: Due to a lingering left shoulder problem, Pirates projected starting center fielder Chris Duffy will be used exclusively as a DH until March 6.
Duffy injured the shoulder by crashing into an outfield wall last August before his season was cut short by a left hamstring strain. He has been working this spring with the team's training staff to rebuild his arm strength.
"He has been doing extremely well with this [rehab] program with his shoulder, and is throwing," said Tracy. "We're going to continue to allow our medical people to finish the job with that. But in the meantime he's completely available to hit. We're going to DH him when we have a chance to do so to get him some at-bats."
The Pirates do not believe the condition is serious. Tracy says they are simply keeping Duffy off the field as a precaution against further injury.
"Tomorrow will be March 2. We're not trying to race him to the finish line. We're allowing him to gradually approach and get to that point."
Quotable: "I don't have any doubt that I'll be back in the near future for the better part of my career. Obviously, this is something that is serious and nobody wants to go through it. But stranger things than this have happened and you have to be prepared for all avenues of setbacks. I firmly believe that this is something I have to deal with and hopefully it will make me better and stronger and allow me to perform the way I am capable of." -- Pirates right-hander Kip Wells, who will undergo surgery Monday to restore circulation to his throwing arm
Bucs bits: Pirates catcher Humberto Cota of Mexico has decided to skip the World Baseball Classic. "I was only going to catch one game [for Mexico]. I thought it would be better for me to work with the new coaching staff and manager here," said Cota. "It was a tough decision, but this is a big year for me and I want to do everything I can to be ready." ... Catcher Ronny Paulino accepted his invitation to play for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. Paulino, Perez, Torres (Dominican Republic), Damaso Marte (Dominican Republic), Jason Bay (Canada), Yurendell DeCaster (Netherlands) and Giovanni Carrara (Venezuela) will also represent the Pirates at the inaugural tournament. ... Bay and Jack Wilson will be at Pirate City on Thursday to shoot a national Fox commercial spot to promote the 2006 All-Star Game at PNC Park.
On deck: The Pirates will travel to Viera, Fla., on Thursday for their Grapefruit League opener against the Washington Nationals. Ryan Vogelsong will start for Pittsburgh against Nats right-hander Ramon Ortiz. Victor Santos, Mike Gonzalez, Brandon Duckworth, Scott Strickland and Matt Whiteside are also scheduled to pitch for the Bucs.
Southpaw Zach Duke will start the Pirates' spring home opener at McKechnie Field on Friday against Washington right-hander Tony Armas Jr. Paul Maholm, Mike Johnston, Terry Adams and Marty McLeary are also expected to see action for the Bucs.

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