Jeff Karstens spent five seasons with the Pirates and officially retired from baseball in 2015. Not only did he spend time with a lot of guys who were still members of the clubhouse in 2016, but he pitched on teams that in 2011 and 2012 that, like the 2016 group, got off to decent starts only to sputter in the second half to miss the playoffs and finish under .500. With that in mind, the Post-Gazette Sports Podcast thought he'd be a great person to talk to about the season that was, as well as some of his memories from his time with the Pirates. Excerpts from our conversation are below, and you can listen to the whole thing by clicking play on the embedded SoundCloud file above or by downloading the podcast and taking it on the go with your smartphone.
On Andrew McCutchen's struggles this season...
I definitely believe he can turn it around. It's extremely hard because Cutch is first and foremost just a really good friend off the field. And then when you see him on the field and you know he puts the work in and the time. To see him struggle like that, it's hard because you want to see him succeed and he wants to succeed himself I'm sure.
On watching rookie Jameson Tallion pitch...
He exudes this confidence when he's on the mound. It was something that I learned at a really young age and my dad told me that "When I watch you pitch, I shouldn't be able to tell if you're winning by 10 runs or losing by 10 runs." Your demeanor means a lot, and it seems like he's able to slow the game down a little bit.
On the impact the absence of special assistant Jim Benedict may have had on pitching coach Ray Searage.
He was able to break down video more than Ray because he had more time. He wasn't always with the big-league club and the bullpen and having to worry about the game, so he had that right-hand man to help him out and break down stuff and he kind of lost that, so having to take on that role himself. ... You only have so much time in a day.
First Published: October 7, 2016, 4:45 p.m.