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Updated 20 minutes ago
BRADENTON, Fla. — Reliever Antonio Bastardo has been the biggest surprise over the first five days of Pirates spring training camp.
Not for anything he's done on the mound, however.
“Bastardo might be one of the best bunters on our team,” manager Clint Hurdle said Saturday. “I didn't have that.”
Bastardo put on a show during batting drills on Friday morning, dropping down a bunch of perfect bunts against a pitching machine.
“He just kept smiling while he kept doing it,” Hurdle said. “We kept adding velocity, and he just kept doing it.”
Bastardo grinned when he heard about Hurdle's praise.
“I'm not a good hitter,” said Bastardo, who is hitless in 10 career plate appearances. “But I can drop down a bunt.”
During his first stint with the Pirates in 2015, Bastardo gave no hint he was a good bunter. He began last season with the New York Mets, then was traded back to the Pirates in August.
“Maybe the Mets did some work with him,” Hurdle said.
Actually, Bastardo said, the credit belongs to Jamie Moyer. Bastardo and Moyer were teammates with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2009 and '10.
“I learned a lot from Jamie Moyer,” said Bastardo. “He showed me how to catch the ball with the bat, and I was able to pick it up from him.”
Bastardo was a starting pitcher as a rookie in 2009, which is when he laid down his lone sacrifice bunt. On June 7, 2009, Bastardo advanced two runners with a bunt off Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Randy Wolf, which set up a run in a 7-2 victory.
In 2010, Bastardo was converted to a reliever, which pretty much guaranteed him no more trips to the plate.
“Relievers never get to bunt,” he said. “That's one of the things that's nice about being in camp here, the relievers get to bunt in camp. Other teams don't do it.”
Could Bastardo become Hurdle's go-to guy as a late-game bunt specialist?
Bastardo laughed and dismissed the notion with a wave.
“Forget about it,” he said.
Cutch's extra effort
Hurdle also gave some props to Andrew McCutchen, who's score of 28 in the “execution game” — a test of situational hitting and defense — was tops on the team.
“He's a guy who could just roll out there and go through it, but no,” Hurdle said. “He's out getting things done.”
Around the horn
Pitchers threw their first round of live batting practice. Fifteen the 16 pitchers threw two innings (maximum 40 total pitches). Gerrit Cole threw one inning. “No hiccups or setbacks,” Hurdle said. “That's what we scheduled for him first time out.” Among those tossing two innings were Ivan Nova, Jameson Taillon, Tyler Glasnow and Tony Watson. … Workouts have started a half-hour later than usual the past few days because of an evaluation process by the strength and conditioning staff. “We're getting measurements in different areas — flexibility, stretching, core, muscle mass,” Hurdle said.
Rob Biertempfel is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at rbiertempfel@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BiertempfelTrib.
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