Duke seeks to continue success formula of 2005

He was 8-2 with a 1.81 ERA a year ago as a rookie with the Pirates.
BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) -- Work fast. Change speeds. Throw strikes. Speak your mind.
Zach Duke followed the success formula for Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers that's been preached since the days of former pitching coach Ray Miller in the 1990s when he was called up last season, perhaps with one slight modification.
Duke was anything but the normal rookie pitcher, going 8-2 with a 1.81 ERA following his midseason callup and becoming the first to have an ERA below 1.00 in his first six starts since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981. Duke was only 22, but he looked poised and polished beyond his years.
Outspoken
The left-hander was atypical after the season ended, too, disparaging former manager Lloyd McClendon and pitching coach Spin Williams for difficult teaching methods he said began with "barking" and quickly proceeded to yelling. He said new manager Jim Tracy and pitching coach Jim Colborn are far less confrontational and more intent on teaching than preaching.
Duke's words were echoed by fellow rookie pitcher Ian Snell, who said it felt good to be able to go through a spring training workout "without being yelled at."
Now, as camp winds down and Duke looks to build on the most promising rookie season by a Pirates left-hander since John Candelaria went 8-6 with a 2.76 ERA in 1975, he wants it known he's grateful for the support and confidence shown in him by McClendon and Williams last season.
Duke may be non-conformist -- "I'm a left-hander through and through," he said -- but he said he wasn't being "malicious or vicious" toward the former staff.
Taken wrong way
"I made one little comment that could have been taken the wrong way and it was," Duke said. "I mean, I have no problems with the last manager, none, and I hope they don't think I did. I respect the job they did and I wish them the best of luck."
Whatever McClendon and Williams did, something must have been right. Duke not only built on the success he had while going 43-17 in 3 1/2 minor-league seasons, he expanded on it by allowing one earned run or fewer in 10 of his 14 starts.
Doing so, he displayed an innate ability to adeptly locate his pitches and adjust to hitters, the very qualities he said he must have again this season to be successful. He will start the Pirates' third game of the season April 5 in Milwaukee and their home opener April 10 against Tracy's former team, the Dodgers.
"I have to remember how I pitched guys last year, and remember that they're going to adjust to me and I have to adjust that much quicker back to them," Duke said. "Teams did that to me last year, and I expected it and I was able to combat it."
Youngest staff in majors
And here's how quickly circumstances change in the majors: Duke opens the season with more experience than two other Pirates starters, Snell (age 24) and Paul Maholm (age 23), who was 3-1 with a 2.18 ERA in six starts. Along with 24-year-old left-hander Oliver Perez, they form the youngest top four in the majors.
But it will be Duke who will clearly be the Pirates' most-watched starter. If he can begin to replicate the success he had a year ago, the Pirates could have the staff ace they've lacked since Doug Drabek left after the 1992 season.