Jordy Mercer: 'Baseball's In Good Hands When Andrew McCutchen's Around'
BRADENTON (93-7 The Fan) – Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer sat down with "The Fan Morning Show" at Spring Training in Bradenton this week to talk about his offseason and the team's preparations for the 2015 season.
Mercer spent a lot of time talking about his own development over the past 12 months. However, he also took time to discuss the attention paid to two of his teammates - Andrew McCutchen and Jung Ho Kang.
When it comes to McCutchen, Mercer was asked about what it's like to see him continue to grow as he garners so much attention from the fans and the media.
"It is pretty cool to be able to watch him each and every day, to go about his work behind the scenes, which a lot of people don't get to see. And to have the head on his shoulders, to be the face of baseball - he's such a good guy, and he's the ultimate pro. It's amazing. Baseball's in good hands when Andrew McCutchen's around. They say that with Derek Jeter, and we're going to be fine with Andrew too as well. Just the work that he puts in, it continues to get better. It's like, 'How do you get better?' But he does get better. You turn around and see an amazing play, and you're like, 'How did that happen?' Well, wait, it's Andrew. It's amazing to watch, and I'm glad to be a part of it, to be honest with you."
When Mercer was asked about the drama surrounding Kang's arrival, he admitted that things have been a bit unusual.
"It's been a little bit different for me," Mercer said. "The media has been absolutely crazy, to be honest with you. We're winning a lot more, which definitely brings a lot more media, but him coming over, it's a big deal over there. I don't think a lot of people realized how big a deal it was for a guy like that to come over here, and to be in the fold, and things like that. He brought a bunch of media over, which is kind of cool, because we got some interesting questions to ask and things like that. But you know what? I keep my head down. I keep pushing forward. I feel like nothing has ever been handed to me. Even to this day, nothing has ever been handed to me. I continue to put my head down, and continue to push forward, and control what I can control. That's the way I look at it, and that's always the way I look at it. And I'm going to continue to look at it that way."
"The Fan Morning Show" will be broadcasting live from Bradenton all week long.
The interview can be heard here:
