The Pittsburgh Pirates have had a bizarre season so far as the team has performed well on the road and struggled at home, while the opposite was true last season.The team won only 17 total games on the road last season and won 40 of its 81 games at home.One of the big bright spots this season has been Charlie Morton, who through his start on April 15 has compiled a record of two wins and zero losses while posting an Earned Run Average (ERA) of 1.64, a huge turnaround from last season when he struggled to record outs. After struggling last season in Major League Baseball (MLB), Morton would be sent down to the Minor Leagues to work on his game.A huge factor in this change has been a new arm angle that he has been working on.”We actually started to tinker with [the new release point] probably in the second week of Spring Training,” Morton said. “It’s still kind of new. I think during Spring Training, I was so focused on competing and I hadn’t really adapted to it the way I wanted to. I think now, I’m getting used to it but the first couple starts, there’s going to be some control problems, but my misses are consistent. I’m missing down and in to [right handed hitters], and it just shows that I’m not making the adjustment but at the same time it is showing that once I do make the adjustment it will be consistent, I just got to work on it.”Morton also has been working on his confidence and offers up a theory as to why he struggled last season.”I think what happened was mechanically, I was showing the ball really early,” Morton said. “I may have been tipping pitches, I’m not sure, but I know that the hitters were seeing the ball really well. I adjusted some things, and release the ball a little later and as a pitcher, you can see the swings of the hitters. When I started seeing guys late on pitches after the adjustment, even if they were right down the middle, I knew was heading in the right direction, and that allows me to be confident.”Another surprise this season has been former starting pitcher, Mike Crotta. Crotta made the team after pitching as a reliever in spring training. Crotta taught Morton a sinker that both players have had success with this season.”It’s got a lot to do with arm slot and just how you finish with your pitch,” Crotta said. “It’s a little easier for me to throw and Charlie’s pretty much the same way.”Because Crotta has pitched with such mixed results, there is one thing that Crotta as well as many other Major League players need to possess.”You just need to have short memory,” Crotta said. “You can’t worry good or bad about what happened yesterday because obviously it doesn’t matter now. There’s nothing I can do about what happened yesterday whether it’s good, bad or indifferent, you just need to look forward and be ready for today.”Pirates pitcher Joel Hanrahan was given the closer’s role very early on in spring training and as of Sunday has five saves. Further more, he is the only closer in his division to have not blown a save.As closer, it is Hanrahan’s job to get the last three outs of the game and it is a very important job.”There’s 24 other guys and eight coaches that are depending on me to finish the job and I just want to go out there and do it for everybody,” Hanrahan said. “It’s a team effort, and as long as we can all hold the lead in the ninth.”Hanrahan notes that there are not many better feelings than going out in the final inning, and consecutively setting down the hitters.”That’s a great day any day you can do that,” Hanrahan said. “It’s a long season, long year, and the games are kind of long themselves, so once you get those three outs, everybody’s kind of relaxed a little bit more, and it’s one of the best feelings you can earn that day.”Finally, with Manager Clint Hurdle now in charge, things have drastically changed. Gone are the days of John Russell, and now with Hurdle at the helm, things are much more active starting with the manager.One of Hurdle’s biggest philosophies has been for his players to be ‘all-in’ and Hanrahan spoke for all of the Pirates when he expressed that they are doing their best to embrace his methods.”You can tell that he’s definitely got our back, and that’s a big thing to know that a manager has your back, and it makes you want to play a little harder for him,” Hanrahan said. “We’re just trying to embrace everything that he’s trying to teach us, and use it out there in the game.”