Below Deck: McGuire wants more at plate

ALTOONA, Pa. -- It didn’t matter if it was Little League baseball back home in Washington state or last Thursday’s debut with the Double-A Altoona Curve. Pirates catching prospect Reese McGuire prides himself on calling the game and figuring out what works and what doesn’t for his pitching staff.



“I love it,” McGuire told DKPittsburghSports.com of the preparation. “Getting to this next level I’m looking forward to it because now you have all these different stats and different things to look at as far as studying to prepare yourself and this is next-level stuff. This is what they do in the big leagues and so, whatever we can use to help us get better, I’m all for it.”

As a kid, McGuire would run back to the dugout every inning and have to answer to his dad and to his uncle, explaining to them why he called what he did.

Both authority figures were catchers growing up and McGuire, the middle child of three boys, competed alongside his older brother, Cash, now an infielder at Seattle University. They’d go toe-to-toe in baseball, basketball and flag football as kids, but both gravitated toward baseball. In Reese’s junior year of high school he gave up basketball to focus on a baseball career, and he committed to the University of San Diego.



The youngest McGuire brother, Shane, is a high school ballplayer who hopes to make the cross-country trek with the family this summer to watch Reese. Until then, they’ll listen to the Curve's online broadcasts from Seattle.

“Everybody in my family is pretty much catchers so there’s a lot of info, a lot of input and some of it just came natural, too, I think,” the 21-year-old McGuire said. “My baseball IQ and just instincts behind the plate just show up sometimes.”

McGuire, who was selected 14th overall by the Pirates in the 2013 Major League Baseball draft, will continue building his feel for the game with the Curve, where he's the youngest player in the clubhouse. Those instincts, coupled with McGuire’s desire to put in the time studying his pitchers and their opponents, impressed manager Joey Cora right away.

Cora, the former White Sox third base coach who is in his first season with the Curve, was already pleased by McGuire’s defense, highlighting a few balls he blocked in last Thursday's season opener. Cora spent 11 seasons in the majors, playing for the Padres, White Sox, Mariners and Indians before retiring in 1998.

“In (major-league) spring training you catch different pitchers, usually you don’t catch your own pitchers, so it’s going to take some time,” Cora said. “But, it seems like he’s going to be a quick learner because he wants to study, he wants to be good, so hopefully he’ll get it done quick.”

McGuire said it’s his job to get these pitchers up to Triple-A Indianapolis, adding that learning more about them on and off the diamond is part of the process. He was an all-star selection in each of his first three professional seasons, batting .271 through 955 at-bats in the minor leagues, including .254 last year in 98 games with High-A Bradenton before a stint in the prospect showcase that is the Arizona Fall League.

The next step? Adding power at the plate to help round out his game. His slugging percentage in 249 minor-league games is a below-average .327, and he has just three home runs as a professional.

“I’m going to let the power come when it does,” McGuire said after going 1 for 3 with an RBI in the season opener. “I just turned 21, so that’s going to come for sure, but what I want to do is control what I can in the box and that’s my approach. Staying hard-nosed to my approach and getting a good pitch to hit and doing everything I can to square it up. Hard contact ... gap-to-gap line drives.”

PIRATES REMINISCE ABOUT INDY DAYS

By ROB HUNT

INDIANAPOLIS -- While the Triple-A Indians don't open at home until Thursday, I spoke to several Pirates about their experiences playing here when they passed through town April 1 for an exhibition game against the Reds at Victory Field.

Gregory Polanco, who spent parts of 2013 and 2014 in Indianapolis, has fond memories of his time in the Hoosier capital and was excited about returning as a key member of the Pirates.

“It feels really good to be here again,” he said. “When I played here it was very special, there were good times. I love the city and there are good memories for all of us who played here.”

Polanco is hardly alone. The Pirate roster is chock-full of players who vaulted to the majors after shining in Indianapolis. Players like Starling Marte, Jordy Mercer and Jeff Locke have been key to the Pirates’ recent successes and are central to hopes for the 2016 season.

Andrew McCutchen is certainly one of those guys. The 2013 National League MVP spent parts of three seasons with the Tribe before landing in Pittsburgh permanently early in the 2009 season.

He said all players reach Triple-A with the same goal.

“When you’re in the minors, the whole goal is to make it to the majors and never turn back,” he said. “So that’s the mindset. This is the first time I’ve been back. To be back here, it’s going to be a lot of fun and bring back a lot of memories.”

Although his sights were set higher when he played here, McCutchen's memories of Indianapolis are positive.

“There are a lot of things here that I took with me,” he said. “One of the big things was that this is a minor-league team in a major-league city. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else if I were in the minors. This is a great city to be in. You’ve got the Colts, the Pacers, and NASCAR is here too, you’ve got everything.”

He added that, although Victory Field is obviously smaller than PNC Park, playing in Indianapolis helped get him ready to play at the next level.

“The only difference is that the stadium is a little bigger," he said. "There’s an extra tier in the majors."

Including a brief five-game rehab assignment a year ago, Josh Harrison has played 131 games in three separate stints with the Indians. The Cincinnati native said the best part of playing in Indianapolis was being just a short drive up Interstate 74 from home.

“For me, being here meant I wasn’t far from home and my family could come,” he said.

Even Clint Hurdle has a connection to Indianapolis. In 1982, he played for the Indians franchise when it was a Reds farm team, one of several major-league teams that Indy has been associated with.

An affiliation extension signed over the offseason will keep Indianapolis linked to Pittsburgh through 2020, which is good news for Hurdle.

“This has been a great place for us to grow up some men and future Pirates,” Hurdle said of Indianapolis. “It’s a great city and franchise. I got to walk the stadium this morning; this facility is fantastic. The guys love playing here. They want to get to Pittsburgh as well, but they enjoy their time here. Our staff has done a great job with every affiliate, and this one very well could be our crown jewel.”

Note: Future editions of Below Deck will include a Three Up, Three Down segment on individual players from Pirates beat reporter Matt Gajtka. Since all minor-league baseball teams have played just a few games, that item will begin next week.