Pearce among Pirates camp cuts

By MIKE HENRY
mhenry@bradenton.com

BRADENTON -- Watching players pack their equipment into totes this morning inside the McKechnie Field clubhouse served as a reminder of the businesslike nature of baseball.
The Pirates optioned four players to Triple-A Indianapolis and reassigned another six to their minor-league camp, reducing the number of players in major-league camp to 40 (21 pitchers, four catchers, nine infielders and six outfielders) with the March 31 regular-season opener in Atlanta two weeks away.
Among the players optioned to Triple-A was 24-year-old outfielder Steve Pearce, who was batting .263 in spring training with team-high totals of four home runs and 10 RBIs. He struck out nine times in 38 at-bats.
"Steve could probably hit in the big leagues right now and be serviceable," said general manager Neal Huntington, "but that's not what we're about. He can be a good major-league player right now, but we want to help him be a great major-league player.
"Steve can hit a fastball with the best of them, but there's a lot more to the game than just hitting a fastball. The book is going to get out on him pretty quickly in the big leagues, and he'll make that adjustment.
"We've put him in a tough situation -- taking a young man who has played first base his whole career and last September, we dropped him into the outfield. He did a nice job there, but we need him to do better than that."
Huntington said Pearce could see major-league action in the event of an injury to a regular such as outfielders Jason Bay and Xavier Nady or first baseman Adam LaRoche.
Other Pirates optioned to Indianapolis were pitcher Bryan Bullington, the organization's 2002 overall No. 1 draft pick; pitcher Ty Taubenheim; and shortstop Brian Bixler.
Reassigned to minor-league camp were third baseman Neil Walker; outfielder Andrew McCutchen; infielder Luis Cruz; and pitchers T.J. Beam, Brian Rogers and Marino Salas.
Walker and McCutchen are expected to join the likes of Pearce, Bixler, Bullington and Taubenheim at Indianapolis, making the Indians a favorite for the International League title.
"We're excited about what (Walker and McCutchen) have shown this spring," Huntington said. "Indianapolis is definitely going to be a fun team to watch.
"We've tried to give each player an idea what our expectations are for them when they go to Indianapolis and what we're trying to get them to work on. The harder they work, the sooner I think they'll be ready."
Huntington said no decision has been made regarding the status of center fielder Chris Duffy, who has yet to play in a spring-training game while rehabilitating his left shoulder.
"There is a progression where we can have him ready by the end of spring training with no bumps, but we'll just have to play it day by day," Huntington said.