Locke, McPherson getting chance at Bucs’ rotation

Associated Press

BRADENTON, Fla.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are giving two youngsters a fair shot at winning the fifth starter spot in their rotation.

Left-hander Jeff Locke and right-hander Kyle McPherson were impressive in their first outings of spring training. Neither got a chance to pitch Tuesday because the Pirates’ game against the Baltimore Orioles was rained out.

Orioles starter Chris Tillman was pushed back to start today against the Red Sox.

Locke got late-season callups in each of the past two seasons, and has tossed a total of 51 innings in the majors, going a combined 1-6 with a 5.82 ERA. McPherson made his big league debut last year — 0-2 with a 2.73 ERA in 10 games, three starts.

“You try to get your foot in the door,” McPherson said. “Once you get your foot in the door, you try to push it open and get established. That’s what Locke and I are doing at this stage of the game. We’re going to go toe to toe and see how it shakes out.”

The Pirates have veterans in the top four spots of their rotation: A.J. Burnett, Wandy Rodriguez, James McDonald and Jeff Karstens.

Rodriguez was scheduled to start Tuesday. Instead, he will follow Burnett on today.

Shoulder soreness forced McPherson to leave winter ball after just a few days last winter, so the Pirates don’t want to rush him early in camp. Against the Twins, he needed only 15 pitches to retire the six batters he faced.

“For Kyle’s first time out, our biggest interest was in the up and down twice,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “We’ve got plenty of time to get his pitch count where it needs to be.”

Locke was scheduled to work two innings against the Rays, but was so efficient he wound up going three.