Keith Srakocic, Associated Press Brandon Duckworth pitches to the Devil Rays in the third inning of a spring training game Monday in St. Petersburg, Fla. Click photo for larger image. Related articles Pirates Notebook: Perez seeks relaxed opening start

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Ian Snell's four scoreless innings Friday against Cleveland brought him to the forefront in a battle to win a spot in the Pirates' starting rotation.

Brandon Duckworth can only hope his five scoreless innings Monday against Tampa Bay did the same for him.

"To see a guy pound the strike zone as he did [in that game], that's what I'm interested in," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "We catch the ball. We make plays. Get the ball in play, get ahead of the hitter and give yourself a chance.

"Use less of the plate and more of your pitches. If he does it that way, he's going to get people out."

But while Snell knows he'll be in Milwaukee when the Pirates open the season April 3, Duckworth will have to make at least one more pitching appearance before he can dare to start thinking about being in Miller Park that day.

His next scheduled appearance is Saturday in Bradenton against Philadelphia. Victor Santos also is scheduled to pitch in that game. The battle to see who will start the Pirates' second game of the season is between those two right-handers.

It's the kind of stuff that can keep a person up at night.

"It's very difficult," Duckworth said. "There are a lot of things that float through your mind. You're kind of teetering on the edge. You don't know which way to think.

"Everybody's going to think about it. It could be a little bit. Some guys take it way to the extreme. Some guys are able to say, 'Let me get away from this.' I try to stay away from it as much as possible."

Duckworth, 30, speaks from experience. He has been through spring-training roster battles with the Philadelphia Phillies and the Houston Astros.

"If you fret about it, you're always trying to do a little bit more than what you need to instead of just being yourself," he said.

Duckworth learned that during the 2003 season with the Phillies after tendinitis in his right elbow made that pretty much a lost year. He had two rehabilitation stints in the minor leagues but still had time to commute between the Phillies' rotation and their bullpen.

"My elbow never really recovered like I wanted it to," he said. "I was the guy left out [of the rotation] on off days because they wanted to keep everybody else on track. I was in the bullpen, out of the bullpen.

"That happened the whole season. You never knew where you stood."

Duckworth was part of a trade Nov. 3, 2003, that sent closer Billy Wagner from Houston to the Phillies. After two seasons of shifting between the Astros' rotation and their bullpen, he became a six-year minor-league free agent and signed with the Pirates in December.

"It's a fresh start here," said Duckworth, who became a rotation candidate after Kip Wells had surgery a month ago. "The opportunity's been there. They've been able to give me a chance and so far, so good."

Before his start Monday, Duckworth worked with pitching coach Jim Colborn on his curve ball.

"I just didn't have a good feel," Duckworth said. "Normally, that's a bread-and-butter pitch for me, and it just wasn't the same. I had it last year, but for whatever reason it wasn't where it needed to be this spring and I couldn't figure it out."

Colborn mentioned to Duckworth that Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, who threw perhaps the best curveball, had a certain way of throwing the pitch.

"I'm like, 'Hey, Sandy Koufax? Whoa!' " Duckworth said. "So I adjusted a little finger pressure and started it out in different spots and the next thing you know it was that good, hard, sharp, late-breaking curveball."

But there is still this for Duckworth to overcome. He's a non-roster player, meaning that for him to make the starting rotation, the Pirates will have to remove players from the 40-man roster to make room for him.

The Pirates face the same situations with utility players Jose Hernandez and Mike Edwards and reliever Giovanni Carrara if they're to accompany Duckworth to Milwaukee. All of them are in camp as non-roster players.

It can be done. Wells can go on the 60-day disabled list. As can pitchers Bryan Bullington and John Van Benschoten. There are three 40-man roster spots.

And Santos, a Rule 5 pick from Kansas City, can be offered back to the Royals. That's a fourth roster spot.

Said Duckworth: "The main thing I wanted to do was go out and prove that, 'Look. He still has his stuff. He's been successful in the past and for whatever reason he took a little derailment. Now he's back.' "

Within the next week or so, Duckworth will learn if that has been enough.