Pirates infielder Jose Bautista takes a throw as Jose Castillo looks on during drills at Pirates City in Bradenton. Bautista will open the regular season as the Pirates' starting third baseman, bumping Castillo into a reserve role.
By Rob Biertempfel
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, March 24, 2007
BRADENTON, Fla. - The Pirates kept sending Jose Castillo a message -- Focus, focus, focus! -- but he never seemed to grasp it.
So, manager Jim Tracy has changed the message to something that is sure to grab Castillo's attention: Take a seat on the bench.
Jose Bautista will open the regular season as the Pirates' starting third baseman, bumping Castillo into a reserve role.
Tracy made the announcement Friday afternoon, about a half-hour before the Pirates played the New York Yankees at McKechnie Field.
"Performance is everything," Tracy said. "This is a business, and we want these players to realize that mediocrity is not what we're striving for."
Putting Bautista at third means Freddy Sanchez will be the everyday second baseman. Last season, Sanchez started 92 games at third base and 18 at second.
Sanchez has not played since March 6, when he sprained his right knee while turning a double play at second. He took pregame batting practice yesterday and has been fielding grounders in workouts. However, he still is unable to run the bases and will not play until sometime next week.
The Pirates break camp a week from today and open the season April 2 in Houston.
Before spring training began, Tracy said Bautista and Castillo would battle for one starting infield job. Bautista won out by being more consistent, both at the plate and in the field.
"I'm excited about getting the opportunity for a lot of playing time," Bautista said. "It was a big surprise, but definitely something I welcome."
Bautista spent most of last season with the Pirates, but he never settled into a role. He made 46 starts in center field, 31 at third base, 16 in right, five in left and two at second base.
"I've been saying since I got here that my main goal was settling in at one position," he said. "I think I'm capable of performing at this level."
Last season, Bautista batted .235 with 16 home runs and 51 RBI. Castillo hit .253 with 14 homers and 65 RBI.
"They're very similar players," Tracy said. "I think Jose Bautista right now is further along from the standpoint of plate discipline. That's important to us."
Playing winter ball in Venezuela, Castillo dropped about 15 pounds and worked on being more patient at the plate.
Yesterday, speaking without an interpreter, Castillo said he was pleased with his performance so far during spring training.
"I'm happy for everything," Castillo said when asked if he was upset about losing the starting job. "In the papers (before spring training), I saw, 'Castillo may not be a starter,' so I came here ready to go.
"I'll play every day, or I'll play sometimes. Whatever position I play, I'll be 100 percent ready."
Tracy still believes Castillo can be a valuable player and could someday regain a starting role.
"A sense of awareness, plate discipline, being in tune to the game for every pitch -- all of those things are very important for (Castillo) to return to what you saw a few years ago," Tracy said. "I've seen tiny spurts of that, off and on, but I have not seen it on a consistent basis. I think he's capable of it.
"You're hopeful that at some point in time he realizes that and he brings out that player who has a (high) ceiling, because I haven't seen that thus far. I'd love to see it. If we do see it, we'll respond."
Yesterday against the Yankees, Bautista started at third base and batted seventh. In 16 games this spring, he is batting .250 with eight RBI.
With Sanchez still unavailable, Castillo started at second base. With one out and the bases loaded in the third inning, he struck out swinging at a high fastball. He's hitting .256 with three RBI in 13 games
Taking shape
Here's a look at the Pirates' likely Opening Day lineup:
CF Chris Duffy
SS Jack Wilson
2B Freddy Sanchez
1B Adam LaRoche
LF Jason Bay
RF Xavier Nady
C Ronny Paulino
3B Jose Bautista
P Zach Duke
Rob Biertempfel can be reached at rbiertempfel@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7811.
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