Max Moroff has prepared himself for the day his black Wilson A2000 glove is no longer usable. Until then, the Pirates' switch-hitting infielder is careful not to throw it into his locker stall, and he stuffs a ball inside its webbing whenever he packs it away for a road trip.
Moroff has used the same glove since his senior year at Trinity Prep school in Winter Park, Fla. in 2012, and he can't find the same model anywhere. He's ordered gloves from Wilson over the past two seasons, only to discover the company cannot replicate the modified webbing. He found one for sale online two years ago from a website based in China; however, the $400 price tag was too much to spend on his minor-league salary.
The glove provides Moroff with comfort in an unpredictable profession that forces young players like him to learn how to prepare for any scenario, including the ultimate demise of his prized piece of leather. That also includes his latest test in his first stint with the Pirates this season: batting leadoff against a lefty starter for the second-highest scoring offense in the National League.
"There’s some projectable numbers," Clint Hurdle said of Moroff batting leadoff. "He had some at-bats early where that was his best side. It’s nothing over-the-top crazy, and I don’t have any inclination to move a whole lot of people."
Therein lies Hurdle's challenge. His most frequently-used lineup over the first two weeks of the season had Josh Harrison batting leadoff, followed by Gregory Polanco, Starling Marte, Josh Bell, Corey Dickerson, Francisco Cervelli, Colin Moran and Jordy Mercer.
When a hit-by-pitch sent Harrison to the disabled list last month, Hurdle chose to use Adam Frazier as the starting second baseman and leadoff batter. However, Frazier, the Pirates' most frequently used leadoff hitter in 2017, has batted .242/.296/.363 in 22 starts in the leadoff spot this season.
He's also batted only .182 against left-handed pitchers, and the Pirates are facing a lefty starter Thursday night for the fourth time in their past six games. Moroff, a 25-year-old recalled from Triple-A when Harrison was placed on the 10-day disabled list, had three hits in seven at-bats against lefties at Indianapolis this season, yet he was a .222 hitter against them in his last two seasons in the minor leagues.
He also had only 47 games as the Indians' leadoff hitter last season, and Hurdle put Moroff in the leadoff spot three times in 2017. Hurdle, though, put Moroff atop his lineup card in three of the past six games. He also used Cervelli there in a loss to the Giants on Sunday. There isn't an ideal candidate outside of Harrison or Frazier, though.
Mercer was the Pirates' leadoff hitter against left-handed starters in years past; however, he appeared in only 12 games there last season, when he also had a higher average against right-handers. Also, Hurdle no longer wants to use Marte as a leadoff hitter since the 29-year-old center fielder is batting .308/.366/.503 in the three-hole this season.
"Mercer has done it in the past," Hurdle said. "His numbers haven’t been what they’ve been in the past for over a year. Leave him at eighth where he’s comfortable. That’s an important position for us to flip over that lineup. He does it better than anybody we have. Marte and Freese, those aren’t guys who are going to leadoff. Marte we’re going to leave alone. He’s had the best season he’s had in quite a while hitting third, so it’s not so much he has the toolset to do it. [Moroff] doesn’t have a lot of experience here, but he’s done it in the minors."
Moroff, a 16th-round pick in 2012, is batting .219/.265/.438 in 15 games since being recalled, and he batted .200 in 56 games for the Pirates last season, although he slashed .260/.373/.420 in 50 at-bats during September when Harrison was on the disabled list. He has struck out 16 times to only one walk, but he's averaged four pitches per plate appearance and showed last Friday the power potential that made him the Pirates' Minor League Player of the Year at Double-A Altoona in 2015.
Moroff, batting leadoff and playing second base against the Giants, stepped to the plate in the eighth inning with runners on first and third and former Pirates lefty reliever Tony Watson on the mound. Watson, who had a 0.89 WHIP, threw a first-pitch sinker for a called strike. Moroff was waiting for a sinker on the hands. After all, Watson threw the same pitch to him in minor-league camp two years earlier.
The pitch came and Moroff hit it over the wall in right-center for a three-run homer, giving the Pirates a nine-run lead.
"It’s seeing different pitchers and seeing them more than once, at-bat to at-bat," Moroff said of his maturation at the plate. "It’s seeing arm angles, spin on the ball, their off-speed. Stuff like that. It boosts your confidence. You feel comfortable because you’ve seen the guy before."
Moroff will likely go back to the bench Friday with a right-hander projected to start for the Pirates, and his stay likely won't last much longer with Harrison continuing his rehab assignment at Double-A Altoona. However, he's trying to use his time in the majors wisely, working with Joey Cora on his defense at second base, learning the nuances of pinch-hitting and even batting leadoff.
It's unknown when he'll return to the Pirates after he does get sent back to Triple-A, or which position he'll even play when rejoining Indianapolis. The one guarantee, though, is which glove he'll use.
"It’s definitely different," Moroff said of his job as a utilityman. "That’s the role. I have to embrace it. I have to hit off the fastball and curveball machines in the cage to simulate as best as I can what’s going to happen out there. That’s the toughest part. It’s hard to simulate game speed in practice. You have to try though in the cage."