Friday, February 19, 2010

Russell happy with Dotel

It's only the second day of camp, but Pittsbugh Pirates manager John Russell was happy with what he saw from Octavio Dotel, who he hopes will be his closer this year. It's been more than a few years since the new acquisition has closed for an entire season, but the manager likes what he saw in his first day.
"It's a tough inning to pitch, and to have someone who wants to thrive in that situation is good, and it shows he has the makeup and mentality to do it," Russell said. "He is very professional on how he goes about things and did everything right today. It was good to see him out there and he is ready to go."
The right-handed Dotel was signed to take over the closer's role for the Pirates, which hopefully will give some of the younger pitchers a chance to get their careers going without a lot of pressure.
He has more strikeouts than any other reliever since 2000 but hasn't closed for an entire season since 2004.

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