Bob Walk: Catchers The Common Thread In Cole & The Gang's Success
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) – Pirates broadcaster Bob Walk joined "The Fan Morning Show" in his regular weekly spot Wednesday to talk about the Pirates' recent success, as they head to Chicago for the final two games of their multi-city, four-game series against the White Sox.
Walk said each of the Pirates' dominant top four starters - Gerrit Cole, Francisco Liriano, A.J. Burnett and Charlie Morton - bring something different to the table.
"Every single one of them is a little bit different," Walk said. "So, there's nothing I can put my finger on and say, okay, this is what they are doing as a team. They're being themselves and they're all talented and they're executing everything right now, whatever it is they do well, whatever that one thing could be, they have got it figured out as to what it is, and they're making it happen."
Walk praised catchers Francisco Cervelli and Chris Stewart for their contributions to the club, explaining that they have made their position one of constant strength for the Pirates.
"We've been really lucky with the catchers we've had the last few years as far as their attitude," Walk said. "What they bring not necessarily to the game but to the clubhouse and the way they almost kind of bring the team together around them. We saw that with [Russell] Martin and I think you're seeing that with Cervelli right now."
Walk gives those two guys a lot of the credit for the pitching staff's success.
"You have to have a catcher back there that you can believe in, that's going to take care of you when you're throwing a ball in the dirt," Walk said. "If you want to strike somebody out and you don't have that big swing-and-miss fastball you can elevate in the zone a little bit, most of the time your only option is to try to get a chase down out of the strike zone on some type of breaking ball. And if you're going to do that, you're probably going to bounce a few - not probably - you are going to bounce a few. So, you have to be able to throw that ball with conviction and the only way you can do that with a guy standing 90 feet away is to know that it's not going to be at the backstop and that's what both of our guys are very, very good at."
The interview can be heard here:
