Pirates GM Huntington talks Harrison, Polanco and injuries on the farm

RF Gregory Polanco (Dennis Wierzbicki/USA Today)

Pirates general manager Neal Huntington met with media today. Here’s a rundown of that conversation.

• Nick Kingham is still waiting on a second opinion on his injured elbow. "Nick chose a very busy doctor. Our hope is to get him in this week, and we'll have an update after that."

• Tyler Glasnow got pulled early in his first start back from injuring his ankle sliding into second. "We decided let's be safe, not sorry. Passed all the clinical tests you want him to pass. The final test was how did it feel in a game, and it didn't feel right."

• Jameson Taillon, working his way back from Tommy John surgery, threw two innings in a sim game yesterday. “Free and easy.”

• Two weeks ago, Huntington said Josh Harrison looked like a guy trying to justifty the contract extension he signed in early April. Not so anymore. He’s hitting .488 during a current 10-game hitting streak. 

"It looks like a guy that's having fun playing the game again. Just showing up with energy every day and trying to do everything in his power to help a club win versus trying to justify. It's fun to watch him get back out there and be the guy he is."

• Gregory Polanco didn’t start Sunday, with a left-hander on the mound. He’s 1 for 11 in this homestand. "Obviously had the tremendous start [last year], the league adjusted and he's working to make that adjustment back. Much like we saw with Josh early in the year, trying to justify and trying to push a little bit too hard and do too much; showing his youth, showing his inexperience. Our guys are working hard to get him back and trusting his abilities, because he has the ability to play up here. He just needs to let it show."

Is he making strides against lefties?

"The sample size is so small. He was really good against them in the minor leagues. His approach was fantastic — and he's abandoned it up here. If we can get him back to doing what he did at the minor league level against left-handers here — they're better, but the approach that played there should play up here. We believe it will. We just have to get him to be stubborn and get back to the approach. It's not only him, but most left-handed hitters that have impact against left-handed pitchers, they have an approach. It's not rocket science. We just need to get the young man back to doing what he was doing when he was successful."

Has he abandoned the approach because of the results?

"Better question for him, but most likely yes. That's typically what happens. When we don't get the results, we look for something different rather than trusting our process."

• Asked how he plans to juggle the middle infielders, Huntington explained: "The reasons we added [Jung Ho] Kang this offseason was to give us depth, to give us multiple options. Josh's ability to bounce around the field. Kang's ability to play short and third. Sean Rodriguez's ability to play everywhere. We wanted to give Clint the opportunity to rest regulars when he felt it was appropriate and be a little more proactive about it this year than maybe teams typically are, not just us, but in general, but also to give him weapons to be able to move guys around, to be able to manage a game aggressively late because he has a bat off the bench, he has a defensive versatility move he can make, and to give him a better bench. He's going to continue to move those guys around. He did it here today. It gives him the ability to put out what he feels will be the best lineup to give us a chance to win that day. I think it's great we've put him in a position to be able to do that. We may still need to make some changes as the season goes on. As we sit here right now, he's got some options that maybe he hasn't had or I haven't given him in the past."

• Have the Pirates put any thought to trying Jose Tabata at first? "As we're learning with Josh Bell in Double AA, to take a guy that's always been very far away from the ball and move him much closer to the ball, especially at the major league level, would be quite a challenge. Most of the guys that have had the ability to go play outfield and first base have typically done it most of their career, or they did it in high school or in college. We've asked a lot of Josh. How does that relate to Tabby? Might be a bit challenging to ask him to do that, although I'll bet if we asked him he'd probably throw the first baseman's mitt on in a heartbeat and run over there. Given the options, with Corey [Hart] and Sean, we do like our depth options out there. Cervelli could run out there if we got into a pinch. From a Tabata standpoint, to give him another way to make the club, it's a reasonable ask, but it's not something we've asked him to do at this point.

• Bell is batting .322 at Class AA Altoona but has just one homer in 38 games. Any concern with the lack of power? "Absolutely zero concern to us. We want him to be a really good hitter, and we believe the power that's in there will show itself. The worst thing a young player can be asked or told is to hit with more power. You will create a ground-ball monster as he tries to yank and pull too many pitches. If you all want to write that ... it is zero concern to us that Josh Bell is not hitting with home run power. We're working to get that young man to be a really good hitter, and then his strength and power will show up."

• Asked whether MLB has given teams any instructions regarding foreign substances that keep showing up on balls, Huntington said rules are rules. "At some point in time, it becomes a spitball. ... As a hitter, I'm not so sure I wouldn't want the guy on the mound to have some grip in cold weather against me. At the same time, if he can then transition that into more bite on a breaking ball, that I don't want to happen. There's a huge gray area here with this that's going to take a lot more discussion than we can do right here, right now."

• Alen Hanson is up to .292 with 14 steals this season. He’s hit safely in 8 of the past 10 games, and has 7 multiple-hit games during that stretch. "Alen had a rough start. Had we had this conversation a month ago, it would've been, 'The early disappointment leader in the clubhouse is Alen Hanson.' He can do some things in a batter's box and on the bases that are really exciting. We've still got time. Maturity, development and growth. Him understanding what type of hitter he will be at the major league level and how we can best exploit his abilities and talents and skills. But he's had a really nice month's stretch here where he's done that on a consistent basis. We're going to challenge him to continue to do it for not only months but years to come."