BRADENTON, Fla. -- In late November, when Pirates general manager Neal Huntington disclosed that Nate McLouth and Nyjer Morgan would compete for the starting job in center field, he added that Chris Duffy likely would start the season in the minors.

It might have sounded to some as if Duffy didn't figure in the team's plans.

Not so, Huntington can say with clarity.

"If Chris were healthy, he'd be in the mix with Nate and Nyjer right now," he said. "But, because of the ankle injury, the shoulder surgery and the missed time last year, right or wrong, I kind of pushed him to the side just because I felt, logistically, that it was going to take some time to get back to where he was. But, once healthy, he'll have every chance to be on this big-league team."

Huntington is far from alone in that view, even though Duffy's September shoulder surgery still has not allowed him any game action. Other members of his staff have expressed similar views at this training camp, cautioning against dismissing Duffy, largely because of his superb defense.

No less an authority than Chuck Tanner, one of Huntington's special assistants, said this: "That kid is as good defensively as any center fielder I see other than Andruw Jones. He is fantastic at his position."

Few would dispute that, including, no doubt, the Atlanta Braves. They tried to acquire him in the Adam LaRoche trade last January, and they asked about him again this offseason.

Still, questions linger about Duffy, from health to hitting to happiness.

On the health front, he missed the second half of last season with a high ankle sprain, then repaired a long-nagging left shoulder. His throwing has been expanded to 120 feet, he is taking batting practice, and he could play some exhibition games this month.

From there, he will open the season with Class AAA Indianapolis.

What lies beyond that ...

"I'm not really thinking too far ahead," Duffy said. "My focus is just on getting healthy. Once that happens, from a personal standpoint, I know I can play with anybody in center field. And that goes beyond the organization. I just need to get this shoulder thing behind me. After that, this should be a lot of fun."

On the hitting front, Duffy sounds highly encouraged by extensive work this spring with hitting coach Don Long. Working mostly off a tee, the emphasis has been on driving the ball to all fields.

"We're just trying to get him a position where he can be short to the ball and get him back to an approach that's natural to him," Long said.

Which means ...

"I'm getting back to my line-drive swing," Duffy said. "That's how I've always hit."

With one exception: When Jim Tracy took over as manager before the 2006 season, he instructed Duffy to alter the line-drive approach that brought him a .341 average the previous summer. Instead, he wanted Duffy to hit the ball into the ground or to the opposite field, asking him to model his swing after Dave Roberts, a Tracy favorite while with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Duffy tried independently to go back to his natural approach last year, but it failed, he said, because of the shoulder.

"I wasn't able to extend," he said. "I was keeping everything tucked back because my body was just naturally protecting the pain. I couldn't even hit the ball off a tee last year. I would just pop it up or hit a ground ball."

And now?

"Now, I'm able to have that same motion but with no pain. This is really cool."

On the happiness front, no player in camp appears to be in higher spirits.

Moreover, all concerned insist that Duffy's month-long unexcused absence from the Pirates in the middle of the 2006 season -- no explanation other than "personal reasons" was cited throughout -- is forgotten.

"The way we look at Chris Duffy, he's a tremendous defensive center fielder, he can run, and he's a great athlete," Huntington said. "He's had some tough times with this organization, but we all come in with a clean slate."

Asked if that clean slate is important to him, Duffy replied: "It's hard to say. When I came back from that month away, I really didn't feel weird. It just felt like something that was best for me at the time. And I don't think the past management held that against me, any more than the current one does."

He paused and added, "But it does feel good to know things are headed in the right direction."