BRADENTON, Fla. -- Salomon Torres' plan to ensure early success in 2007 will not be nearly as complex as once thought.

Put simply, he needs to think about it.

And think hard.

Torres and manager Jim Tracy had a lengthy meeting last week to discuss Torres' new duties as closer and, more important, how he can avoid another sluggish first half. Last season, he had a 4.63 ERA before the All-Star break, 1.22 afterward. For his career, the numbers are 5.12 before the break, 3.53 afterward.

It is one thing for a setup man to start slow, quite another for a closer.

"It's just about preparing myself mentally, and that's what I told Jim Tracy," Torres said yesterday. "Maybe in the past when I came here, things were more relaxed for me. I knew what was expected, what my role would be, and that was my approach. This is different. I'm the closer now, and I know I need to be at my best at the start."

Tracy, his staff and advance scout Kent Tekulve, a former closer, had toyed with the idea of giving Torres a heavy workload in the spring. The reasoning: Torres thrives off such use, as evidenced by his 94 appearances last season that were most in Major League Baseball, and his sinker has better bite the more he pitches.

But the workload apparently will be nothing out of the norm.

"No, he's just going to pitch like he always would," Tracy said. "From listening to him, this is going to be much more about how he handles things mentally. That's how we'll go."

More rest for Nady

The expected return of outfielder Xavier Nady, hospitalized Tuesday through Thursday for a viral infection of the intestine, was delayed a day.

The Pirates loosely projected that he could return to camp yesterday and have limited activity, but the team and player opted to use the day for rest. General manager Dave Littlefield said Nady should return today.

Bayliss held back

Reliever Jonah Bayliss has been kept off the mound since Tuesday because of a strained quadriceps muscle in his left leg. He called it "no big deal" and predicted he could pitch over the weekend.

McCutchen exits early

Outfielder Andrew McCutchen, the Pirates' top prospect, left the workout because of gastritis. He also made an early exit Thursday. Littlefield described the ailment as "nothing serious" and suggested McCutchen would be back soon.

Buried treasure

Jose Castillo finally joined the major-leaguers for infield drills. He and Jose Hernandez switched off at third base, sharing the infield with Jack Wilson, Freddy Sanchez and Adam LaRoche.

Even though outfielder Jody Gerut still is not running, Littlefield said the Pirates' doctors have told him Gerut should be able to start the season. Gerut had knee surgery in late May.

Some of the Penguins' contingent had hoped to participate in batting practice with the Pirates this morning, but the plan was scrapped because of the timing and location of their practice.

Six pitchers threw to hitters, including Torres, John Grabow, Josh Sharpless and Masumi Kuwata.

Because Sanchez made contact with one of the six pitches he saw from Kuwata, he was peppered with 10 minutes of questioning by the Japanese media. "How were you able to get your bat on the ball?" one reporter asked in English.

The workout today begins at 9:50 a.m.