Herrera and Walker shine in win
It wasn't the score that mattered so much -- Pittsburgh won, 8-1, over Manatee Community College -- but the progress he saw. Of particular mention were starter Yoslan Herrera and third baseman Neil Walker.
Herrera fanned two and faced the minimum batters in two innings to earn the win. A Cuban defector, the right-hander had been out of baseball since 2005 while living in the Dominican Republic.
Tracy said there were small issues that needed to be addressed with Herrera, but he was confident they were changes that could be made.
"We're just going to take some small steps with him, and hopefully just gradually progress," Tracy said. "He's a good-looking young pitcher. His mechanics are very sound, and all signs point toward the fact that he's just going to continue to get better.
"The more he learns, and the more he progresses, and the more he gains a better understanding of what we're all about, he's just going to keep getting better and better."
Walker, who was converted to a third baseman at the beginning of Spring Training after spending his career behind the plate, made several flashy stops in his second consecutive game at the hot corner, including fielding a rolling bunt for an out that earned Tracy's seal of approval.
A good barometer of the fielder Walker is, Tracy said, was to look at the difference in the hard balls hit to Walker on Tuesday during the intrasquad scrimmage, and the slower plays which came his way Wednesday, and see the degree of effectiveness he had with both.
"In the little time that [Walker's] been over there, he's just a great natural athlete, that's what it is," Tracy said. "His ability to adapt to this situation, he looks very natural. I haven't seen him do one thing that would suggest to me that anyone would sit around and think that he couldn't, or won't eventually be very good at that spot."
Dawn Klemish is an associate reporter for MLB.com.