PITTSBURGH — Tom Gorzelanny went from staff ace to a minor leaguer. Ian Snell signed a new contract, then regressed significantly. Zach Duke went from bad to worse.

If there was anything that could go wrong on the Pittsburgh Pirates' pitching staff last season, it generally did — from Gorzelanny's terrible season, to Matt Capps' injury, to the bullpen's breakdown and the starters' repeated failures.

The Pirates' pitchers and catchers report for spring training Friday in Bradenton, Fla., with a new pitching coach to guide them and a season filled with failure to drive them. Manager John Russell hopes they are motivated given what he saw last season, not much of it good.

Starters that couldn't last past the third inning. A farm system that repeatedly sent up pitchers not ready for the majors. A bullpen that couldn't handle a workload that would have taxed a championship club's staff.

"The buzz last year was our pitching. That's all I heard about, the great young pitching," Russell said. "These guys can really throw. We've seen great signs. That's all we talked about. And we didn't pitch."

A staff supposedly blessed with some of the majors' best young arms produced a 5.10 ERA that was Pittsburgh's worst for a full season in 55 years and the third-worst in modern-era franchise history.

Not surprisingly, inexperienced pitching coach Jeff Andrews, who had worked with many of the young pitchers in the minors, was fired after one season and replaced by former Red Sox and Yankees coach Joe Kerrigan.

The roster is virtually unchanged, but Russell is convinced that the change in coaches, and a few attitudes, will make a major difference.

"Joe is not going to be a miracle worker, he's not going to come in and sprinkle fairy dust around and everybody's going to be a Cy Young pitcher," Russell said. "But these guys will be better."

Gorzelanny is 15 pounds slimmer following a much more strenuous offseason program. He was the Pirates' biggest disappointment last season, finishing 6-9 with a 6.66 ERA after having a 14-10 record with a 3.88 ERA in 2007.

Part of Gorzelanny's problem was a sore left elbow that may have resulted from a lax offseason program. Gorzelanny got so out of rhythm, the Pirates sent him to Triple-A Indianapolis to get straightened out. The left-hander was limited to four Pirates appearances after July 4, lasting past 4 2-3 innings in only one.

Snell (7-12, 5.42) wasn't much better, and the right-hander is a combined 16-28 since he was 14-11 in 2006. Duke appeared to emerge as a potential No. 1 starter by going 8-2 with a 1.81 ERA as a rookie in 2005, but he is 18-37 since then.

Left-hander Paul Maholm (9-9) was the only reliable starter, and he earned a $14.5 million, three-year contract because of it, yet he won only nine games.

To Kerrigan, that means making sure each starter knows his role, is prepared going into every start and has a detailed breakdown of each hitter he will face. Some pitchers thought the pre-game preparation was lacking last season.

"I had Joe in New York and he was awesome," Jeff Karstens said. "I think he has a lot of knowledge he can give us. It might be a lot at the beginning but, overall, I think with our scouting reports and some of the other stuff, we'll be a little more prepared."