BRADENTON, Fla. -- The lineup card was posted on the bulletin board, but nobody noticed until Lloyd McClendon pointed out that Pat Meares had moved to second base and Enrique Wilson was the shortstop.
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Pat Meares hit a solo homer and added a three-run double in the first game against the Reds yesterday. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette) | |
"Just trying to find out what combination works best," McClendon said after the opener of a day/night doubleheader with the Reds. "I think it's important we don't leave any stone unturned. The thing about it, it's spring training. It can't hurt."
Struggling as the everyday shortstop last year, Meares was flawless in the field yesterday, turning one double play and nearly turning another on a tough play. He also cracked an opposite field solo home run and drove in three more runs with a double that staked the Pirates to a five-run lead before they lost, 11-8, to the Reds.
"You play shortstop, you can play anywhere," Meares said. "I just play anywhere they put me. I don't care. It makes us more versatile. You guys probably make a bigger deal out of it than anybody."
Kevin Young expressed surprise that Meares, who played shortstop with the Twins, started at second base. When he learned how Meares fared, Young joked: "You're locked in now. You're not going back."
McClendon had said he would experiment with Meares at second because he wants to shore up the defense. Moving Meares might be a last resort, as he called it, but the Pirates are built around starting pitching and have to improve their defense from last season. The team ranked 12th in the National League with a .979 fielding percentage, and each of the regulars at the infield positions reached double digits in errors.
"I believe you win with defense, particularly strong defense up the middle," McClendon said. "You start giving the other team 30 or 31 outs a game, you're fighting an uphill battle."
McClendon likes to point out that Hall of Fame second baseman Bill Mazeroski started as a shortstop. He plans to use this stretch of Grapefruit League games to evaluate the play of all his middle infielders -- Meares, Wilson, Warren Morris, Abraham Nunez, Mike Benjamin, Jack Wilson and John Wehner. He might not make a final decision on who the starters are until the last week of spring training.
"We'll see. It depends on how guys play," McClendon said. He added that Wilson, who also had two hits, looked comfortable at shortstop.
Meares began his career as a second baseman in the minors in 1991. While turning a double play at second base does not give a fielder a view of the runner bearing down on him, Meares said it didn't bother him on the two chances he had.
"It's not like I never took a ball on the side," Meares said. "It's all hands and feet either way. Either you have them or you don't. The pivot at second is no big deal."
Meares fares well after switching to second base 
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