BRADENTON, Fla. — Pirate City is gung ho for Jung Ho Kang, but manager Clint Hurdle is in no hurry to rush the Korean shortstop’s progress early in spring training.
Hurdle and major league coach Dave Jauss sat down with Kang and his interpreter Jae Han Thursday, the first day of workouts for pitchers and catchers, and had a “very nice session” sharing “some thoughts and some philosophies.”
The first topic of discussion was on how to pronounce “Kang,” which both parties hope will soon be a household name.
Not KANG. Not GANG.
“The last name is pronounced GUNG,” Hurdle relayed later, when he met with media for the first time since December.
The Pirates acquired Kang from the Nexen Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organization in January and signed the 27-year-old infielder to a four-year deal worth $11 million. Kang spent the past month training with Nexen in Arizona and reported to Pirate City last week.
Hurdle plans to bring Kang into his office every other day or so to introduce him to another coach.
“Slowly break him in,” Hurdle said, with a grin.
Kang is a shortstop by trade, although he spent some time at third base and catcher in the KBO. So shortstop is where the Pirates will keep him for now. If he shows well backing up Jordy Mercer early in camp, Kang will begin to move around the infield.
“Once we get him some time and some comfort at shortstop, I anticipate we'll move him to third to see how that transpires there,” Hurdle said. “If those both work well, we could very well move him to second.”
Polanco powers up
Right fielder Gregory Polanco looks nothing like the lanky 6-foot-4, 170-pounder who signed with the Pirates as an international free agent in 2009.
That’s by design.
Polanco’s playing weight as a rookie last season was 220 pounds, and he packed on 13 more pounds of muscle in the offseason while training in the Dominican Republic with fellow outfielder Starling Marte.
Hurdle said the staff put in place a plan this past fall to hold Polanco out of winter ball and help him build the strength needed to survive a full season at the major league level. Polanco appeared in 89 games last season and batted .235 with seven home runs and 14 stolen bases.
“He's put on strength,” Hurdle said. “And we don't feel he's sacrificed speed.”
Morton on mend
Right-hander Charlie Morton, coming off offseason hip surgery to repair a torn labrum, threw a 34-pitch bullpen session Thursday.
Morton has said he will be ready for opening day, and Hurdle said his starter is “right on track.”
“Charlie is not backing away from anything,” Hurdle said. “Charlie is involved in all the drill work, he's throwing the sides. He's involved in every aspect of spring training."
Stephen J. Nesbitt: snesbitt@post-gazette.com and Twitter @stephenjnesbitt.
First Published: February 20, 2015, 5:00 a.m.