BRADENTON, Fla. -- Eric Hinske sees 2008 Tampa Bay Rays possibilities in these 2009 Pirates.

So what's the Rays' vision of a team they confronted last night for the third of five times this spring?

"If he says it, it's probably true," offered Tampa third baseman Evan Longoria, a protege, friend and fan of Hinske, who helped him blossom into the American League rookie of the year and the Rays into the upstart AL champions. "Last year, nobody expected us to do what we did, let's be honest. We had a collection of guys and athletes who, like he said, didn't know how to win or weren't accustomed to winning.

"That's the experience thing, it just breeds such confidence in the clubhouse. When you go out there on the field, you're not playing for the tie. You're going out to win and win only.

"And it helped that we had five horses on the mound who were giving us solid pitching."

In general, the Tampa stamp of approval was given to the current Pirates, with a few pieces of advice:

Have sturdy starting pitching.

Get timely hitting.

Play with confidence and purpose.

Learn to win right out of the box, two of three or three of four each series.

Listen to Hinske, the outfielder-infielder the Pirates signed late in January.

And, you know, maybe have your version of Jonny Gomes start a fight or two.

"It does, it does remind you of kind of where we were," Tampa pitcher Scott Kazmir began. "How old are most of those guys, a fairly young team? That's what it seems like. For us, it was all about having all the young guys up at the same time. Young [Pirates] with a lot of talent, it wouldn't surprise me. And that's all it is with young guys, they get the confidence ... once they have that, then you just take off from there."

"They got Nate McLouth. Jack Wilson. Hinske, he's young, he's not old. [Ryan] Doumit. The LaRoche brothers. They got talent," added Rays catcher Dioner Navarro. "We knew we were going to be good at some point; it came sooner than we expected. Once you understood you were capable of playing any other team, it was a lot easier for all of us. Hinske was a big part of us last year. I'm not saying he was the reason why, but [such veteran leadership] was a big reason" for the sudden Tampa turn-around.

Granted, some young Pirates pieces may not stick around much longer. Already, before the game last night between these teams, No. 2 overall selection Pedro Alvarez, 22, was sent to minor-league camp. He will begin his season at high-Class A Lynchburg. Alvarez clubbed a ninth-inning, three-run, two-out homer off the center-field screen Sunday against the Rays in Port Charlotte, Fla.

That was the same game where Jose Tabata, 20, collected a sacrifice-fly RBI, a double, a single and threw out Rays speedster Carl Crawford at home. That was the same game where Andrew McCutchen, 22, used his speed to gather a triple and a diving catch in center field. And those two potential stars most likely are ticketed for Class AA Altoona and Class AAA Indianapolis, at least for the time being.

Still, these Pirates last night fielded a lineup that included McLouth, 27, Doumit, two weeks shy of 28, Adam LaRoche, 29, Andy LaRoche, 25, and ace Paul Maholm, 26. Hinske, Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez will play most of the season at an elder statesmen 31. Tampa averaged 27 years of age on the team that went from 66-96 to the World Series.

"I was talking with Andy LaRoche a little bit earlier, and he was going through the same thing [as Tampa]. Got a nice young team," pitcher Andy Sonnanstine said. "You never know. I don't think anybody saw our season coming last year, so who's to say it couldn't happen for Pittsburgh this year?

"You know, we started getting the feel we had something special in spring training, but I don't think everybody bought into it right out of the gates. When we started sweeping teams in our division at home, especially the [Boston] Red Sox, that's when everybody started to realize we got something special." It helped as well, he added, that Gomes defended teammates in brawls with Boston and New York, and "it affected the whole season. It was almost a sense of, 'We're not going to get pushed around.' "

Is there similar fight in these Pirates this season?