“Newspapers mentioned Gorzelanny may have been removed from his start Thursday because it was cold. Isn’t he from Chicago?” — JW, Pittsburgh

LoL - yes he is. A native at that. I reviewed my cards on Gorzy and saw that he opened 2006 for Indy with a 48 degree temp and a 15 mph wind blowing to boot.

The 76 degrees - Thursday’s game time temperature - wasn’t the reason for shutting him down and I don’t know why it was even brought up - numerous times in various articles - by one beat reporter.

He was shut down as a precautionary move. End of story. I still expect - want to see, is probably the better way to say it - Gorzy shelved for awhile. Let’s slow down and take our time with him.

“Two shoulder discomfort shut downs in seven months under two general managers for Tom Gorzelanny. Will the Pirates ever learn?” — SH, Tampa, FL

It’s scary stuff. Nobody is God and can predict the future for Gorzy, but as long as he remains open in his communication with the Pirates trainers, he should be ok unless something snaps.

“Baseball America just posted a note about Pedro Alvarez indicating his injury may be rougher than originally thought. If the Rays take Matusz, who do you see the Pirates taking?” KT, Wheeling, WV

I mentioned that high school arm Gerrit Cole and starter Aaron Crow from Missouri are interesting, although Florida’s Buster Posey is starting to catch my eye some but isn’t as talented as several players ahead of him - high school and college.

“You mentioned John Russell doesn’t like “flashiness” which gave the edge to McLouth to start in center. Can you elaborate?” — YR, Iraq

Russell is well known to appreciate talent, not showboats. That’s probably about as far as I should go with that. Does it mean Morgan has no prayer? Not at all. He just needs to outperform McLouth this spring and show Russell he’s a total player. But don’t count on it, at least based on Russell’s historical track record.

“Use your scouting senses - Doumit or Nady in right batting third?” — PW, Penn Hills, PA

Tough call. A healthy Ryan Doumit probably puts up a .275/.330/.475 split over 350 at bats. He’s matched Nady for potential power breakout in my book and you have to like his compact swing. But I don’t like the lack of contact at times and the high ground ball rate (although better in 2007), but I do like his ability to get on base a bit better than Nady.

In right, Nady covers better and, even though the position gets fewer opps than league average with all our soft tossing southpaws and Morris, you can’t let teams score at will on poor routes.

For me, I’d put my money on Nady because of the semi-reduced downtime, the fact I don’t want LaRoche batting 5th or two lefties back-to-back unless I can help it, and Nady’s “clutchiness”. 

Now if Doumit could just get his game management skills and ability to handle a staff under control, he’d be worth 3 times what he’s worth today even if playing only 120 games. Perhaps that’s Russell’s and Huntington’s intention - to push him to see if he can?

“2001 all over?” — TC, Sewickley, PA

I assume you mean in wins and losses. Boy.. tough to say. New regime, new policies, new demands, new everything. Who knows how the players take to it all. Nobody knows better than the players where they fit in the game.

Do they give up on Russell like they did Tracy and Mac? And if they start to, what does Russell do.. bring up replacement level players and lose a ton? If they don’t give up, play hard, and lose a ton, does Huntington then pull the plug as we expect him to? If so, when?

Sure, we could be looking at a 100 loss season but one that should propel us forward a lot more than 2001 did.

– Tidbits –

Pirates beat reporter Jenifer Langosch mentioned today she didn’t know who it was that reported Snell having arm problems. I guess her site search is broke because it was MLB.com that originally reported Snell missed his start with forearm numbness September 27, 2006. It ended up being tightness in his right elbow instead, the AP later reported.

Of course, that was just a month after MLB.com reported Snell mildly strained his right shoulder.

Will Carroll at Baseball Prospectus ”barely” green flagged his health (subscription required) but Carroll has mentioned in the past that Snell uses a lot of effort to deliver every pitch which also led to some concern.

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Bucs lost to the Phillies as Jack Wilson homered in his first at bat of the spring and went 3-3 with two of the balls in play in the air. Deja vu of August and September last year? Hmm.. perhaps it’s a mental thing in that he’s still feeling like possible trade bait? Good for him - bat him second Neal.

Mientkiewicz went 1st to 3rd again.. nice hustle. Even getting caught stealing was impressive. Hey, the cat’s trying to lead. Good for him.. I just hope he gets smarter on the base paths and starts thinking about putting wood on the ball. Maybe the wrist just isn’t there yet?

Shane Youman with four walks. Wow. Anybody else think his massive inning count had anything at all to do with that? Geezz.. poor kid.

We saw the inherited problem with flame throwers today in Carrasco - they get yanked out of the park more often which is something we absolutely can’t afford to allow.

I wish I saw the game to know if the two wild pitches were really wild or if it was more Ryan Doumit being all thumbs and not blocking the ball as has been the case in the past.

Two walks for Bautista. Man, set this guy up in the 8 hole with Morgan or McLouth in front of him and he’ll walk a ton all year setting the plate for Sanchez leading off.

Bay.. just two at bats and off he went stage right. Not a good sign.. not a good sign.

Hey Andrew McCutchen, did you work out in Georgia this winter or come in cold?

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“Deep down inside, I wanted to be picked up,” Burnett said, “because [I thought] it would be a better opportunity maybe for me.” — Sean Burnett on being placed on the wire after getting DFA’d this winter.

Yeah, we secretly hoped the Cubs or Brewers added you to their rotation too Sean.