truebluefan

Q: Dejan, with the Bucs now playing above-.500 baseball since the break, coupled with the September expansion of rosters, I was wondering what the Pirates consider more important the rest of the year, evaluation of players or winning games?

Kevin Van Asdalan of Banksville, Pittsburgh

KOVACEVIC: If the answer had to be one or the other, Kevin, I would say it leans toward winning.

From the standpoint of which personnel they are using, on one hand, you see Ryan Doumit out there regularly at first base. That obviously is a move aimed at the future. On the other, you still are not seeing Jose Bautista out there daily. Or, really, much of the recent callups except when absolutely necessary. Clearly, if the Pirates were doing nothing more than spring training type of evaluation, you would see much more of the experimental thing going on.

From another standpoint, though, it could be argued that winning right now is a method of development. Most of the Pirates' diamond, even the established guys, ranges from somewhat young to really young. As we saw in the first half of this season, this group was not exactly adept at pulling out the close ones or coming through when needed most. That tendency -- almost in bizarre fashion -- has reversed itself 180 degrees with the 12-2 record in one-run games since the break. Hence, winning now might mean more than, say, checking out Rajai Davis in center field.

This much I can tell you with certainty: The players -- the ones who count the most -- are enjoying the winning quite a bit.

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