Holland supports media
COVID-19 rules making it harder for both sides now
LAKELAND, Fla. — Derek Holland has been around. The left-handed pitcher, assuming he makes the major league club, would become the Pirates’ mosttenured player. Pittsburgh would be his fifth MLB city.
He has absolutely seen some things, and he carries with him a simple ideology when it comes to dealing with the media.
“You have a job to do,” Holland said. “We have a job to do. We have to make your job easy so it makes our job easy, too.”
Simple, right? And fair. How Holland thinks about media is suddenly at least somewhat relevant because of the restrictions placed on reporters across all major North American professional sports leagues, the result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Wednesday morning, the Pirates clubhouse was closed and will remain that way until further notice. When Holland spoke with four reporters after his start Tuesday, it was outside of the visitors’ clubhouse at Joker Marchant Stadium.
A pressure washer made it hard to hear. A golf cart zoomed by the cement walkway while Holland was talking. It was, like it or not, the new normal. It’s also necessary until the seriousness of the situation lessens.
“It’s just going to come down to what we’re able to do and what we’re not allowed to do,” Holland said.
“Stuff like this, I think it’s fine. It just [stinks] with the circumstances.
“Obviously, we don’t want anybody to get sick or anything like that, but we also have to take care of ourselves so we can go out there and perform.”
This is obviously a sensitive issue for reporters covering these leagues. Access to players clearly helps reporters do their jobs, although we can also function in a news conference setting. It’s also logical that no fan should shed a tear for people who are paid to watch pro sports.
But one-on-one conversations with players — impossible in news conferences — are an essential part of doing this job well. For a healthy exchange of ideas, sure, but also for asking followup questions and picking away at one particular story line, for the ability and trust to speak off-the-record and acquire context around a topic.
It seems that Holland understands the value in that.
Brault update
The competition for the Pirates’ fifth starter job lost one of its entrants as Steven Brault (left shoulder muscle strain) won’t be ready to pitch in games by March 26, director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Tuesday before the Pirates played the Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium.
The Pirates announced last Monday they would shut down Brault for at least two weeks after he experienced pain during a Feb. 28 outing against the Baltimore Orioles at LECOM Park.
In that game, Brault’s velocity was a tick or two below normal. Brault said he had been feeling pain in his shoulder “for a little while” and it “froze up” on him between innings.
Tomczyk said the Pirates will re-evaluate Brault later this week and determine the best course of action. Although Brault won’t be ready by opening day, it sounds as if it won’t be a long-term thing.
The issue with opening day, Tomczyk said, is that it would probably be rushing Brault back, and the Pirates don’t want to do that.