Huntington: Harrison having fun again after skid
Pirates general manager Neal Huntington suggested May 10 that struggling third baseman Josh Harrison, who had stumbled to a .178 batting average in 28 games, might be trying too hard to justify a four-year contract extension he signed the first week of the season.
It wasn’t a ridiculous assertion, either. Harrison, who hit .315 with a .347 onbase percentage in 2014, was 2 for 37 in his previous 11 games and had dropped down in the order.
In his 11 starts since Huntington’s remark, however, Harrison has hit 22 for 47 (.468), the most hits of any National League player in that stretch, and reclaimed his spot atop the Pirates lineup.
“It looks like a guy that’s having fun playing the game again,” Huntington said Sunday. “Just showing up with energy every day and trying to do everything in his power to help a club win versus trying to justify. It’s fun to watch him get back out there and be the guy he is.”
Harrison singled off lefthander Jonathon Niese in a 9-1 win Sunday for the Pirates, extending his hitting streak to 11 games, and later added a sacrifice fly.
The key to his turnaround, Harrison said, was “don’t get too high or too low.” For a while, he went up to the plate pressing, trying to, as he put it, “get three hits in one at-bat.”
Did the contract have anything to do with it?
“At the time, no,” Harrison said. “And still to this day, no.”
Then he didn’t seem so sure anymore.
“The contract could have played a little into it,” he said. “It’s no secret I knew I was a contract guy. But that doesn’t make me approach the game any different. It’s just a matter of, you know, I got off to a rough start.”
Hart sits vs. lefty
Corey Hart was not in the starting lineup Sunday for the first time this season when facing a left-handed starter. Hart, a career .286 hitter against left-handers, has only one hit in seven starts with the Pirates.
“Other guys are swinging the bat better right now,” manager Clint Hurdle said.
Jose Tabata started in right, his first start of the season, and Sean Rodriguez was at first.
“We’ll find another opportunity for Corey,” Hurdle said. “Can’t play them all, for me, and it came down to playing two of three — Tabata, Hart and Rodriguez.”
Injury report
Right-hander Nick Kingham “chose a very busy doctor,” Huntington said, so the Pirates are still waiting for a second opinion on Kingham’s injured right elbow. There could be an update within the week, Huntington said.
Right-hander Tyler Glasnow injured his ankle May 6 sliding into second base, the same night Kingham was hurt. Glasnow felt discomfort in his next start and is now on the disabled list.
“We decided let’s be safe, not sorry,” Huntington said. “He passed all the clinical tests you want him to pass. The final test was how did it feel in a game, and it didn’t feel right.”
Right-hander Jameson Taillon, working his way back from Tommy John ligament-replacement surgery, pitched two innings in a simulated game Saturday at extended spring training, according to Huntington, and threw “free and easy.”