Newman focused on starting for Pirates in '21

Like most of his teammates, Pirates infielder Kevin Newman had a season to forget in 2020. He began the season as the starting shortstop, but found himself on the bench by season’s end.

It didn’t help that his batting average fell off 84 points. One could also argue that his defense was below average. He made a combined eight errors over 43 games, while playing shortstop and second base. Some felt he had limited range while playing the infield.

Keep in mind that most of Newman’s problems happened during a 60-game schedule in the midst of a pandemic. This year, the Pirates are expected to play a full 162-game season -- and Newman decided to put last year behind him.

“I’m flushing it, honestly,” Newman said. “As a whole, the year didn’t go the way I wanted, the way a lot of guys wanted it to. We’re just putting it behind us. I went into the offseason, worked real hard, set the sights forward.”

Newman knows what he did wrong at the plate and on the field last season. He tried hard to correct those problems during the offseason.

“I worked on being kind of direct and short to the ball. I felt [my swing] was a little long last year,” Newman said. “Defensively, I worked on my first step. I tried to improve my range.”

It’s Spring Training and Newman likes the way his swing and defense are coming along.

“I’ve been taking some ground balls. Personally, I’ve felt a difference in that first step and in my range,” he said. "[I have a] really good feeling when you go in [like that and] really work hard on something like that … and feel the difference.

“Offensively, with the swing, I definitely feel I made those improvements. It’s still super early. It’s not going to be results-oriented. We know it’s a process in Spring Training of getting ready and getting going.”

Newman finds himself fighting for the starting job at shortstop with three other players -- Cole Tucker, Erik González and Wilmer Difo. The competition starts on Sunday, when the Pirates play the Orioles. Newman acknowledged it’s important to lock down a starting job.

“You want to be a starter in the big leagues,” Newman said. “… Like I said, the work I did in the offseason to come in and fight for a starting job, that’s all it’s about. It’s going to be a fun camp. And it’s going to be a competitive one, for sure.”

Although he is fighting to be a starter, Newman made it known he is friendly with a competitor like Tucker, who said the competition would be a little easier if he didn’t love his competitors.

“It’s a bittersweet thought,” Newman said. “It’s all good competition, so … we’ll see what happens. But it will be a competitive Spring Training.”