BRADENTON, Fla. -- Carlos Santana had sought out an audience with Andrew McCutchen a couple weeks ago. Nothing formal. More of a pull-up-a-stool kind of session in the locker room at Pirate City. But it'd soon take on a focus -- a hard one, by the time it was done -- on forming a foundation of leadership.
They've both been there. They've both won.
Before long, Rich Hill, Ji-Man Choi, Austin Hedges, three other veterans acquired by Ben Cherington over the offseason who've done their own fair share of winning, became part of the process. As did others who are older. As did a handful who are younger.
And along the way, to hear Santana tell it in a terrific talk he and I had Sunday at LECOM Park after the Pirates topped the Twins, 5-2, in Grapefruit League play, stuff started to click.
"It's a good group," he'd say, looking about the clubhouse. "I really like what I see, what I hear."
I respectfully stopped him there. Sounded like a standard spring trope was coming. And based on everything I'd heard about this now-36-year-old designated hitter and first baseman, notably how he'd carried himself off the field in Cleveland and Seattle, where he was lauded for his leadership, for helping both those franchises to stirring turnarounds, I felt it fair to push for more.
He didn't disappoint.
"No, no, I mean this honestly," he'd leap right back. "We have a very good group here. A lot of younger players, a lot of talent, a lot of belief."
Belief?
I couldn't help but remind him where he was, and how that translated into the standings the past three seasons.
"I mean, we have no choice. We have to believe it. And we do. But it's for real reasons. There are good players. There are good people here. We just need to put everything together. All of us. All of us in here. I know what was here before. I talked to the younger players. They came to me. This is what I tried to talk to them about. We have to look at who's here now. We have to teach and to learn."
Which meant, per Santana, precisely three things.
"Play hard. Respect the game. Believe it."
That's what I was looking for.
Believe this, my friends: The 2022 edition of the Pittsburgh Baseball Club had not a single figure like this. Daniel Vogelbach was a fun dude who'd banter with the boys about hitting. Ben Gamel would run through a brick wall. Jose Quintana set a sterling example. Bryan Reynolds, Ke’Bryan Hayes and other younger types weren’t about to take over -- leadership isn’t for everyone, so that’s not a knock -- and that was that. Wins and losses passed by night after night as if nothing had occurred apart from the sunset
This, what's above ... nobody was doing that at all. I wrote last summer that I'd never covered any team in any sport that lacked player-level leadership quite like that one, and I'll stand by it now more than ever. Because it was very much part of Cherington's plan for 2023 to change that in adding all of these aforementioned veterans, while prioritizing that they can still contribute.
None of it means a whit in the moment, obviously. And if the team’s still terrible, it won’t matter what stage. But in the event that it does … well, suffice it to say that’s the primary emphasis among the players with whom I’ve spoken in this fold.
“The goal is to win,” Mitch Keller told me.
“Win. That’s it,” David Bednar told me.
JT Brubaker came at it with more elaboration after three scoreless authoritative innings on this day, this after I asked about the broader belief level.
“The belief level is we're competing,” he responded. “I mean, we're, we're here to compete, we're here to go out and compete in the division, compete in the league. And I mean, I, I feel the difference, I feel the presence here with Cutch, with Rich, with Santana, with Choi, with these guys that have the playoff experience a lot of us don’t. They know what it takes throughout 162 games to get to the playoffs.”
He paused, then added, “I’d say the confidence is through the roof, the competitiveness is through the roof. You can even see it between individuals like on our own team competing with each other. Like when we're doing lives.”
Live batting practice at Pirate City. Pitcher vs hitter.
“Guys went at it. This is different, man. It's real.”
Obligatory ending, always on a subject like this: We’ll see. It’s certainly a hell of a lot better than hearing endless hollowness about just needing to get better.
• Cutch exited the game in the sixth upon being hit by a pitch, on top of his left hand. Per my exclusive reporting, I can reassure everyone that he's "all good," according to the man himself. Full report here.
• Jarlin Garcia, removed from the game Saturday in Clearwater, Fla., because of what the team termed arm tightness, told me he's having an MRI Monday. He was supposed to be the main lefty in the pen. Full report here.
• If Garcia isn't ready for the opener, that role might fall to Rule 5 lefty Jose Hernandez, a flamethrower who showed both his flame and his faults on this day. He regularly ran the gun to 98 mph, but also conceding a solo home run to Minnesota's Jose Miranda in the sixth, his only inning. The raw material's electric, though.
• Can't say enough about Brubaker's visible confidence in limiting the Twins to a single and a walk while striking out four over his three innings. He's now struck out nine batters in five spring innings.
I had to ask:
"It felt good. It felt real good," he'd reply. "Felt good. Everything was coming out of the hand really well, locating really well, even got a swing and miss on my changeup.”
By his changeup, he meant literally his only changeup out of 41 pitches, but hey.
I further asked if he's ahead of his standard spring pace with his repertoire, given that he utilized all of it.
“Really, the whole offseason was just working on my pitches. I’m a guy, I feel like I throw a lot of strikes, so it was just reassuring or just making sure I’m solidifying that my pitches were able to be thrown for strikes, I’m able to attack with them and I’m able to expand when I need to."
• The big blow on the day was Chris Owings' two-run home run in the fifth that came one out after Rodolfo Castro's second single on the afternoon:
Owings is a non-roster invitee vying for utility work.
• Jack Suwinski's new, more open approach at the plate paid off in a stroked double to deep center in the sixth. Love to see that.
• Next up's a Monday night game against the Yankees, 6:05 p.m. first pitch, up in Tampa. Luis Ortiz takes the ball.
• Awesome to hook up, super-spontaneously, with several subscribers an hour before first pitch:
ROBERT EBY / FOR DKPS
Subscriber meetup, LECOM Park, Sunday afternoon, Bradenton, Fla.
No, really, I let everyone know, like, 25 minutes before that. We had two others show right after that was snapped.
Never stops amazing me. Never stops being appreciated.
• On that note, thanks for reading my baseball coverage. Always. I'll have more when we all get to Cincinnati.
