Ray Searage: No Need To Worry About Gerrit Cole's Ribs
BRADENTON (93-7 The Fan) – Pirates pitching coach sat down with "The Fan Morning Show" at Spring Training Monday morning. He's the first of the many Buccos players and coaches that will stop by 93-7 The Fan's tent at McKechnie Field this week.
Searage said that he wasn't worried when he found out that Gerrit Cole was dealing with rib inflammation upon arrival in Bradenton.
"When I heard it, I said, 'Okay, that's fine, things happen during the offseason,'" Searage said. "When I got the call, and they told me what was going on, I'm like, 'Okay, we'll make adjustments, we'll be fine.' Because I trust [Pirates trainer] Todd Tomczyk and Gerrit, giving him the information and what they need to do. So there was really no sense of panic."
Searage talked at length about the mechanical adjustments that he's been working on with Jeff Locke, saying that he's liked what he's seen from Locke so far.
"What I try to instill in Jeffrey, and most of the other of our pitchers, is compete," Searage said. "Compete. You may not have your best stuff that day, but go out and compete. Take it one pitch at a time, one hitter at a time, one inning at a time. Don't think about, okay, I've got to go five or six [innings], because now the long-term goal becomes the priority, and how are you going to get to the long-term goal unless you take care of the short-term goals? And that's one of the biggest things, is that if you can do that, before you know it, you'll be in the fifth or sixth inning."
That being said, Searage expects a bit more than than a quality start any time one of his guys takes the mound.
"You want your starter to go as long and as deep into the game as possible," Searage said. "We want to use the bullpen when we want to, not because we have to. With those guys, normally, the major league good start is six innings, and giving up three runs or less. Well, we hold that a little bit higher. We have a higher bar than that. We've got seven innings, three runs or less. And if you can get to that point, that's good."
Finally, Searage talk about how he's keeping top pitching prospects Tyler Glasnow and Jameson Taillon focused, given that both are likely to be left off the major league roster and assigned to Triple-A to start the season, even if they make progress in Florida.
Searage explained that he wants those two guys to harness their frustration, and use it as fuel when they take the mound.
"I want them to keep the edge," Searage said. "And if every hitter up there comes up looking like me, that's good. If they're mad, they're going to take it out on somebody...I told them, I said, 'Listen, I want you to keep the edge. If you're upset and you're angry and stuff, that's good. I want you to pitch with that. I want you to go get 'em.'"
"The Fan Morning Show" will be broadcasting live from Spring Training in Bradenton all week long.
The interview can be heard here: