"Pirates pitching coach Joe Kerrigan wonders if Zach Duke's second-half slide last season was a byproduct of his heavy workload in the first half.

"We'll have to take a look at that," Kerrigan said. "Maybe that has something to do with the wear and tear in August and September."

Duke tossed 213 innings, the most on the team and 12th in the National League. He earned an All-Star bid by winning eight games and posting a 3.29 ERA in the first half. But Duke put up ERAs of 5.76 in August and 5.84 in September/October and won just twice in his final 11 starts.

"Yeah, he was pitching his butt off the first two months and was going eight or nine innings," Kerrigan said. "But did those outings take a toll in August and September?"

On Aug. 4, Duke's string of 15 straight starts in which he pitched six-plus innings was snapped in a 6-0 loss against Arizona. More struggles followed.

"I was getting ground balls, but for whatever reason, they'd find a hole," Duke said. "Maybe I'd leave a ball up a litle bit, and it'd get over the infielders' heads for a single or something. There really wasn't quite as good execution on my part.""