Depsite losing 2-of-3 from the Reds, General Manager Neil Huntington is pleased with their performances and what they have seen this weekend.
“We’ve battled back against some playoff-caliber teams,” Huntington said. “It’s a great sign. We’re continuing to fight and compete. Cincinnati is fighting for its playoff lives. It’s a test for our young players.”
Huntington is also very happy with the performance from the young bucs.
“What’s exciting is that it’s [Andrew] McCutchen, it’s [Jose] Tabata, it’s [Neil] Walker,” he said. “It’s guys who are going to be important pieces for us going forward.”
The most important thing though, is for the young team to learn how to win.
“At the same time, we have to play the game the right way,” Huntington said. “We’ve got to have the foundation in fundamentals. As always, we’ll look at various places where we can upgrade. We have to be smart about how we use our resources. We can’t just throw [millions of dollars] at somebody just to make ourselves feel good.”
Neal Huntington on both Neil Walker:
“Neil deserves a ton of credit. It’s almost like the move to second base has taken the pressure off. The bat has really taken off. We’ve got some work to continue to be stronger, to continue to be more agile if he’s going to stay at second base, which it looks like he’s going to have every chance in the world to do. But like every other young player in our group, you’ve got to challenge them to step forward. None of these guys has made it. We don’t have a player on the club that has had good, back-to-back major league seasons. We need a lot of them to have good, back-to-back major league seasons, and soon.”
Neal Huntington on Andrew McCutchen:
“In some ways, he’s taken some great steps forward [this season]. In other ways, we’ve got some work to do. Defensively, the shift in philosophy early in the season [from playing] him shallow — now it’s to play him deeper, almost let him play free safety. So he’s getting a very different angle, different reads and routes off the bat. He still has the physical ability to be a Gold Glove-caliber center fielder. Offensively, [it's] letting him realize the bunt’s a weapon for him. Realizing what he is and not trying to do too much … driving the ball gap to gap. [Let home runs come naturally from good swings and] not because he goes up trying to hit a home run — that’s when you get a lot of ground balls to the left side of the infield. It’s easier to feel like Andrew McCutchen has been here for 25 years. But he’s finishing his first full season at the major league level. There’s still a lot of years left.”
Like this:
Like Loading...
Kristy Robinson
