In The Dugout
Paul Maholm
By Joe Giardina

Twenty-six year old left-handed pitcher Paul Maholm emerged as the ace of the Pirates' staff last season with a 9-9 record and 3.71 ERA. Maholm and the Pirates agreed multiyear contract in January that will keep the Mississippi State product in Pittsburgh through the 2012 season. PSR's Joe Giardina caught up with the opening day starter in the early stages of training camp.

PSR: How was your off-season? Did you work on anything specific in preparations for the upcoming season?

Maholm: It was good. It was the first off-season for me and my wife to be with our son, so it was basically just spending time with him and getting ready for the season… There wasn't any specific thing I was working on on my own… just making sure that I did everything possible to come here in shape and to make sure my arm was healthy. To make sure my arm was in shape and ready to go and for whenever we are ready for games that there are no setbacks. To make sure that I'm ready to work with [pitching coach Joe Kerrigan] and everybody else, and just to refine stuff during spring training.

PSR: You just signed a three-year, $14.5 million deal. What was that negotiating experience like?

PM: It was a big relief. You grow up wanting to be a big leaguer and once you get here you want to establish yourself enough to even be offered a long-term deal. And for it to happen and get done, now I can just go play baseball and win games. That's what they expect out of me and that's what I expect to do. I can just go have fun now.

PSR: Any goals for yourself this year?

PM: If you're in the rotation you should expect to make your 30-plus starts, you should strive to get the 200-inning mark and go for 15-plus wins. If you're doing that you are being consistent and you're helping your team win. That's the number one thing. As a staff, we've got to make sure we give the team a chance to win every night. If we are doing that then everyone is going to be taken care of with their stats and all that.

PSR: Last season you set career highs in innings, strikeouts and ERA. What clicked for you?

PM: Just being comfortable. I wasn't having to go to the bullpen in-between starts and work on three to four things trying to get back to normal. It was going out there and knowing the mechanics are going to be good and that everything was in rhythm. And it's going out there and competing and being aggressive and expecting to go seven or eight innings a game and not just trying to get a quality start. To me, that's not really that good of a start. You should go seven or eight innings and take care of the bullpen to where they're not getting tired. It's a long season, we have to take care of those guys. As long as there are a few guys going deep into games then they're going to do their job and save games for us.

PSR: Management said going into the spring that your spot in the rotation is the only one locked in. What does it mean to you, knowing they have that kind of confidence in you?

PM: It's the same thing with the contract. It's just a big confidence boost. It's a big relief. But also, with that comes the expectation that you need to be in camp and you need to be ready to go. Just because they said you've got a spot? To me, I expect to pitch well no matter what. I expect to earn my spot, to make sure they didn't make a mistake by saying it. Because I know there a lot of the guys, young guys, that want our spots on the rotation. They want to break into the big leagues like we did a few years ago. And you know, that keeps me working hard, keeps me making sure that I'm prepared and ready to go.

PSR: Has that led to you taking a more pro-active role of being a leader for the pitchers and in the clubhouse?

PM: You know what, I'm just going to do what I do. I'm not going to all of a sudden become a vocal guy. I'm not going to all of a sudden start holding team meetings. I'm going to go prepared. I'm going to make sure I'm at the park early, I go do all my work outs, do everything with the trainers to make sure I'm out there every fifth day. And I'm going to go do my video work and make sure that my game plan is prepared for my next start. During the games I'm going to be talking baseball with the guys, just like I always have. To me, nothing is going to change. They don't expect me to all of a sudden change and become somebody I'm not. My demeanor is more laid back, but whenever you go across the lines it's time to work and it's time to win.