Pirates Notebook: Duffy refuses to report to Indianapolis
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The Pirates yesterday placed center fielder Chris Duffy on the minor-league restricted list for failing to report to Class AAA Indianapolis within 72 hours of being optioned there Sunday.
While on the list, Duffy will not be paid any of his $331,000 salary, although the team retains his rights.
It was not immediately clear why Duffy refused his assignment.
"You'd have to ask him," Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield said.
Neither Duffy nor his agent returned calls yesterday.
Duffy, 26, was batting .194, which prompted management to demote him after the game Sunday at PNC Park. Littlefield and manager Jim Tracy met with Duffy for an hour in the manager's office to discuss it.
Upon emerging, Duffy told reporters he was unhappy that Tracy tried to convert him into a prototypical leadoff hitter by stressing that he hit the other way, pound the ball into the ground and take more walks. Throughout his time in the minors, Duffy was an aggressive, line-drive hitter, and he used that approach to bat .341 for the Pirates in a half-season as a rookie last year.
"Before I even played for Tracy, he was already kind of saying what he wanted me to do. I think, sometimes, I'm a little too coachable," Duffy said Sunday. "I'll just try to get my game right and back to where it usually is."
Duffy is the second player the Pirates have placed on the restricted list this season. They had a brief dispute with outfielder Jody Gerut in early April when the sides disagreed about the nature of his knee injury. Gerut continues to rehabilitate in Bradenton, Fla.
Littlefield said he was unaware of any health issue with Duffy.
Pirates answer Arroyo
Several of the Pirates' players fired back at Cincinnati pitcher Bronson Arroyo, who, after giving up four runs Wednesday in the Reds' 7-2 loss, said, "If I can't stand on the mound and feel comfortable against that lineup, then something's wrong with me."
"It's not something I would say," first baseman Craig Wilson said. "Obviously, I wouldn't say our lineup is as potent as some he's faced in recent years when he was with Boston. But, at the end of the day, we were over here listening to music, and he's over there with an L."
"He should know better than that, man," reliever Salomon Torres said. "There's a line you don't cross. Even if you think you're better than the opposition, you've got to give them respect. At some point in this game, you're either going to face them again or be their teammates."
"A loss is a loss, and you've got to assume some responsibility for it," Bay said.
Tracy wanted to steer clear of the matter.
"I'm not throwing any mud," he said. "We came in here to win that game, and the lineup we had out there did a decent job."
Casey on trip
First baseman Sean Casey, recovering from a fractured back, will accompany the team on the six-game road trip that begins tonight in Cleveland and have his first outdoor batting practice. If all goes well, Tracy said, he could begin a minor-league rehabilitation stint immediately afterward. That keeps Casey on pace to rejoin the Pirates at the start of June.
"I'm feeling great," he said.
Turnpike time
The Pirates will face Cleveland today for the first time since June 2003, but it is not a sign the teams will meet regularly.
Despite annual pleas from Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy, Major League Baseball continues to designate the Indians and Reds as natural rivals. The only reason the Pirates and Indians meet this year is that each league's Central Divisions are matched up.
"It would be nice to play them every year. These two cities really don't enjoy each other, from what I've heard," Craig Wilson said. "It seems like the whole interleague thing was really set up for the big cities to have their two teams face each other, like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles."
Buried treasure
Shortstop Jack Wilson started for the first time since May 6, when his right hamstring was strained running the bases. He singled and scored in his first at-bat and wound up 1 for 4.
Tracy would prefer to use Ryan Doumit as his designated hitter, as Lloyd McClendon did last season, but that will depend on Doumit's health. He is slowed by a strained left hamstring.
Craig Wilson was benched in favor of Jose Hernandez, who went 0 for 4 to drop his average to .152. He has one extra-base hit in 46 at-bats. "He's getting pitches to hit, but he's fouling them off," Tracy said of Hernandez.
Cincinnati reliever Rick White, released by the Pirates in December, on his former team's poor start in 2006: "I'm surprised it's as bad as it's been. They've got too many good young players over there to be that bad. Too many good players, period. And I've played for Tracy, and I know what kind of a manager he is. They don't have McClendon to blame anymore."
INDIANAPOLIS (22-18) beat Charlotte, 1-0. LHP Tom Gorzelanny (3-2, 2.56) pitched eight scoreless innings and allowed three hits, all singles, and a walk. Because he picked a runner off first, he faced three batters above the minimum. He struck out six and threw 63 of 94 pitches for strikes. RHP Josh Sharpless and RF Adam Boeve each made successful Class AAA debuts. Sharpless (0.00) pitched a perfect ninth with a strikeout for his first save. Boeve (1.000) went 3 for 3. 3B Yurendell DeCaster (.248) drove in the lone run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth.
ALTOONA (26-14) was off.
LYNCHBURG (18-19) was off.
HICKORY (15-22) was rained out at Kannapolis.
First Published May 19, 2006 12:00 am
