BRADENTON, Fla. — Be ready. Be prepared. Be courteous and helpful.

Sounds like a Boy Scout.

Michael McKenry is a major league catcher.

Same thing.

McKenry, 27, figures to be the No. 2 catcher behind 36-year-old veteran Rod Barajas with the Pirates this season.

“How many games will I catch? It’s out of my control,” McKenry said. “When my name is on the lineup card, I’ll be ready. When it’s not on the card, I’ll still be ready.

“You just don’t know what’s going to happen in this game.”

The Pirates are well aware of that. Injuries caused them to use eight catchers last season — more than twice the average of catchers used by the other 15 National League clubs.

Those injuries are what brought McKenry to Pittsburgh in the first place. He was traded to the Boston organization by the Colorado Rockies on March 29 of last year, only to be dealt to the Pirates on June 13.

“I was shopping at the grocery store, preparing to spend another week at (Class AAA) Pawtucket when my cell phone rang and they told me I was traded again,” McKenry said.

“I said, ‘you got to be kidding.’ When I found out I was going right to the majors, it made things much easier to deal with.”

McKenry’s only previous big league experience was a six-game stint with the Rockies in 2010, when he went hitless in eight at bats.

Now he was returning to the big leagues with a bunch of teammates he didn’t know, catching a bunch of pitchers he had never met.

“I took a lot of notes. There wasn’t much time for a learning curve,” McKenry said.

The Pirates were 29-29 with a 3.73 earned run average in games McKenry caught last season. By comparison, the Bucs’ ERA was 4.74 in the 60 games veteran Ryan Doumit caught.

McKenry was particularly effective with young right-hander Jeff Karstens last season. When Karstens is on the mound this year, McKenry will likely be behind the plate.

“Jeff has no pre-conceived notions going into a game and I’m that way, too,” McKenry said. “We continually adjust to hitters as the game goes on. I can bounce ideas off him and he does the same with me.

“We have a lot of guys taking that approach now and we’re getting some good results.”

Doumit is now with Minnesota. Barajas signed as a free agent from Los Angeles, where he helped Clayton Kershaw win the National League Cy Young Award last year. He also caught current Pirate A.J. Burnett during the latter’s best season with Toronto.

“Rod has been like my big brother since he got here,” McKenry said. “He teases me a lot, but he’s very helpful to me, too.

“I’ve been in his left pocket throughout spring training. He’s asked me about some of our pitchers and I tell him what I know. Besides that, I’ve kept my mouth shut and ears open.”

McKenry hit only .222 with two homers and 11 RBI in 180 at bats with the Pirates in 2011. He’s expecting to improve those numbers.

He’s also expecting to help win more games from behind the plate rather than at the plate.

“Pitching and defense are how you win consistently in baseball,” he said. “Those two elements of the game are there on a steadier basis than great hitting games are.

“Work well with the staff, keep balls in front of you, throw guys out ... That’s the type of catcher Rod Barajas is and that’s what I want to be. Only Rod can change the scoreboard with a swing of the bat, too.”

McKenry did have a big league moment of his own at the plate last season — a three-run homer in the eighth inning to beat the Chicago Cubs before a sellout crowd at PNC Park.

“I get chills every time I watch it,” McKenry admitted. “I have it on DVD. I’ll pop it in and watch it from time to time for motivation.

“I’m honored to be here, blessed to be here ... truly, truly blessed.”