Pirates notebook: Struggling Gregory Polanco gets a day off to work on timing at plate

Derek Shelton is acutely aware Gregory Polanco is scuffling at the plate, but that isn’t why the Pittsburgh Pirates manager didn’t start him in right field Tuesday night against the Cincinnati Reds.

Shelton said Polanco had a scheduled day off as the Pirates faced their first left-hander in Wade Miley.

After hitting .153 in 50 games last season, Polanco is batting .071 (1 for 14) through the first four games. So Shelton and hitting coaches Rick Eckstein and Christian Marrero spent some time talking with Polanco about his timing, one of the biggest challenges to correct and something which Shelton called the “nemesis” for hitters and hitting coaches.

“Obviously want more consistent at-bats out of him,” Shelton said. “I think with anyone who’s scuffling a little bit — and G’s not the only guy; we have a couple other guys who we need to get going also — I think the big thing is staying positive, trying to identify things that are going to help and make it better.”

Shelton said two ways to improve timing issues are to work with the velocity machine and to shorten up batting practice by taking pitches closer from a closer distance, both designed to accelerate the speed to better simulate a game.

The best thing to practice, however, is patience.

“Sometimes those things don’t instantly happen,” Shelton said. “I know you figure, hey, you go work on something, then the next day it’s going to translate into three hits and a homer. Sometimes it automatically transfers. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time. You just have to keep working on it.”

Polanco is hardly alone in his problems at the plate. Entering Tuesday’s game at Cincinnati, Kevin Newman and Adam Frazier, the Pirates’ hottest hitters in spring training, were batting .214 (3 for 14), Jacob Stallings was 2 for 10, Erik Gonzalez 1 for 9, Dustin Fowler 1 for 8 and Anthony Alford still is looking for his first hit.

All but Polanco and Fowler were in the starting lineup.

On the corners

With Polanco out, Shelton started Phillip Evans in right field and had Gonzalez playing third base, a scenario that should improve their infield defense.

Although Evans has played first, second, third and right, Shelton said he prefers to keep him in the corners and Gonzalez in the middle. Gonzalez, however, started 12 games at third base last season.

“I think the versatility is huge for us,” Shelton said. “We talked about that at the end of camp when Phil was on the club, the ability to bounce into multiple outfield positions, ability to play third, first, can play second. I think we’ll see him at multiple positions. The fact that we have Gonzo in the middle kind of helps us out.”

Bad jump

Reds righty Jose De Leon had recorded nine strikeouts by the time Bryan Reynolds drew a leadoff walk in the sixth inning Monday, after which the Reds replaced him with reliever Cionel Perez.

Reynolds promptly was picked off while attempting to steal second, thrown out by catcher Tucker Barnhart after getting a bad jump.

“Yeah, I got the steal sign and I was going first move and didn’t get the best first-move jump,” Reynolds said. “I guess I had his step off somewhere in the back of my head.”

Not giving a flip

Reds right fielder Nick Castellanos has drawn some attention for his antics this week, from a benches-clearing brawl with St. Louis to his exaggerated bat flip after homering off Sam Howard on Tuesday.

Reds closer Amir Garrett doesn’t care if opponents think Cincinnati is cocky. In fact, that’s exactly what he wants them to think.

“I want everybody to think that the Cincinnati Reds are, like, the cockiest team ever,” Garrett told Reds reporters. “We’re some bat-flippin’, show-boatin’ sons of guns and I want everybody to know that.”

When told of the quote, Shelton simply shrugged.

“It’s not bulletin-board material because we play 162 games,” Shelton said. “He’s a talented guy that’s confident. I have no problem with confidence. I think the way our game is played now is, it’s played with swagger. I don’t think there’s a bad thing. You can’t take offense to swagger on either side, if you’re a pitcher or hitter, because it goes both ways. The fact that’s he’s talented and he’s confident, that’s fine.”