Given Pittsburgh's lineup, Barmes knows he doesn't have to come out and try to hit.

Still, there's no doubt Barmes will be penciled into the lineup for the opener against the Chicago Cubs on Monday. 178 during Grapefruit League play, the lowest among Pittsburgh's regulars. Walker is healthy and Barmes insists his confidence is high. Sure, the Pirates missed his bat but they missed the fluidity of having their two middle infielders separated, too. The fact Walker was sidelined the majority of the season's last six weeks with a back injury happened about the same time the Pirates began to falter isn't a coincidence. Barmes and Walker quickly developed a rapport - both on the field and off - that helped Pittsburgh contend for a playoff spot until early September. SO COOL Pirates shortstop Cole Tucker is now the proud owner of an awesome painting featuring the characters from the video game Backyard Baseball with.

Crafted from an ever-comfortable cotton-polyester. 'To see him go about his business on the defensive end has made me that much better of a defensive player.'Īnd in turn helped provide the Pirates with some much-needed stability up the middle. This Shortstop pullover hoodie is the ideal way to stave off the cold while repping the Pittsburgh Pirates. 'He's somebody that I've learned a lot from, especially with some of the things that he went through on the offensive end,' second baseman Neil Walker said. It would be difficult to do much worse, though the way Barmes continued to grind even as his average plummeted immediately won over a young clubhouse in search of some veteran leadership. 'I'm a lot more comfortable with where I'm at and expect to have a lot better start than I did last year.' 'I've just made things as simple as I can make it on the offensive side,' Barmes said. Now the 34-year-old is hoping that momentum carries over into 2013. He went back to work, fixed what he could and hit. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pirates Oneil Cruz makes. He could have bailed when things went south quickly. In his season debut with the Pirates, shortstop Oneil Cruz delivered a three-run double that left the bat at 112.9 mph.