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While Paul Meyer covers the team in Florida, we still take Qs from the home office ...

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Q: I know it's still too early to call, but right now who does your gut say is going to claim the three open spots in the bullpen, assuming Franquelis Osoria has a spot locked?

I would love to see Sean Burnett get one of the spots, with maybe Evan Meek and Byung-Hyun Kim claiming the last two? Or does Masumi Kuwata still have enough time to prove he deserves to travel north at the end of the month?

Matt Fromm of Etters, Pa.

KOVACEVIC: I am going to continue to refer to it as four open spots, Matt, if only to avoid confusion. I have been writing for much of the winter that Osoria was a very strong candidate for one of them, and he certainly has done nothing to diminish that status this spring with three scoreless innings, three strikeouts and two walks.

As for the rest ... so much of it still looks and feels very open, up to and including possible roles.

Zach Duke has settled after a rough opening start, so that would appear to put Phil Dumatrait in the bullpen mix, as Neal Huntington has suggested would happen in that scenario. Now that Burnett has been told to work in one-inning spurts, he is not likely to be the long man, and Dumatrait is really the only other candidate who has been stretched out to this point. Jaret Wright could be, too, but his outings all have been one inning, too.

So, let us say Osoria and Dumatrait have two. The Pirates want some kind of power, and they want to begin building for the future. That would appear to give Meek an edge, being a Rule 5 guy whom they could lose if he fails to make the team. They also want varying arm slots, as well as late-inning insurance, and only Kim and Masumi Kuwata fit that bill. Kim, his blowup yesterday notwithstanding, surely has the edge because the Pirates would have to swallow $300,000 to cut him.

That sounds like four to me.

There are other circumstances to weigh: Osoria, Dumatrait and Jonah Bayliss are out of options. That means use them or maybe lose them. The Pirates might be able to get Bayliss through waivers, but not the other two. Wright has a spring escape clause. Hector Carrasco, Casey Fossum and Elmer Dessens, the other veterans in camp, do not.

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Q: Hi, DK. I know you can't judge a team or players by spring performance, since that is a time to work out the kinks. But, with Jason Bay batting .217, Xavier Nady .130, Ronny Paulino .174, Jose Bautista .182 and Ryan Doumit .238, is there reason to worry that this is going to be another low-scoring season?

One last question. When do the chat sessions start up again?

Troy D. Miller of Virginia Beach, Va.

KOVACEVIC: First, in the interest of fairness, Troy, Jack Wilson is hitting .360, Nate McLouth .391, Adam LaRoche .304 and Freddy Sanchez .333.

Second, I dispense with the obligatory who-cares-about-any-of-this statement by noting yet again that Paulino batted a superhuman .481 with four home runs and 17 RBIs last spring, only to utterly vanish once the games began counting.

That said, no, the Pirates as a whole have not looked very good at the plate. Not at all, actually. And that goes beyond the batting averages. The coaching staff's preaching about being selective, about treating counts situationally, particularly with men on base, has not translated into the batter's box yet.

As I have been cautioning all along to those getting too excited by what they hear from the Pirates, what matters most is action and results. The coaches most definitely are active, but getting results clearly is going to take more time.

Oh, and the first chat of the year is scheduled for opening day, from Atlanta. It will run most Mondays after that, too.

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Q: Is it possible that Zach Duke throws too many strikes? He has great control and a low walk rate, but doesn't get many swings and misses. It seems that hitters expect Duke to always put the ball over the plate.

Would it be helpful to sometimes intentionally miss the strike-zone to get batters chasing bad pitches and keep them from getting locked in on the strikes?

Richard Jarzynka of Shaler

KOVACEVIC: Yes, and Duke has acknowledged as much, Richard. But there is a thin line in there between doing that and losing control. With all the hits Duke surrenders, the very last thing he can afford is more baserunners via walks.

The most important facet of Duke's game right now is to have better stuff as it passes through the strike zone. The Great Duke of 2005 threw a ton of strikes, too, only hitters were having a tough time hitting them because they came with better stuff. And that comfort level you describe as hitters having against him, well, it was quite the opposite because they felt compelled to take two or three quick hacks no matter what Duke was throwing.

Plain and simple, he needs to throw faster and with more break. And he has done so for much of this spring.

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Q: Are the Pirates disappointed with the development of Yoslan Herrera? It seems to me that there was quite a bit of excitement when he came to the Pirates, and he pitched well last spring, but little has been heard from him since. Now, he was among the first 17 players cut.

Does he have any place in the Bucs' future?

Josh Wolf of Philadelphia

KOVACEVIC: If there is disappointment among new management, Josh, it is that old management committed as much cash as it did -- three years, guaranteed $1.92 million -- to Herrera last year without seeing first-hand whether or not he still had life to his arm.

Herrera, for those who do not know, again will be the only player in the Pirates' minor-league system collecting a full major-league salary, that figure at $381,000 in 2008.

When Herrera was signed, the tag was that he was a four-pitch guy who could get his fastball up to 92 mph once ready. The Pirates and Boston Red Sox were chief among those who scouted him, and the Pirates outbid the Red Sox, which might have been the first red flag given the other team's vastly deeper pockets.

Herrera immediately frustrated some members of the Pirates' previous management last spring when they implored him to throw his fastball more often. Their impression was that he did not want to throw it because so many Cuban pitchers rely on offspeed material.

What they have seen since then is that he might not be able to throw heat even if he wants. His velocity does not come close to 90 mph most of the time and, even though his offspeed repertoire is pretty good, as is his command, it does not compensate. No pitcher, not even a Kuwata, can get away without having or using a fastball.

So, no, it does not bode well for Herrera. Neither was it a great sign for his future that the Pirates sent him right back to Class AA Altoona.

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Until Tuesday ...