BRADENTON, Fla. – There are a number of questions in Pirates camp at this early stage, but one intrigues as much as any of the others right now.

Is there really room for two Crosbys in Pittsburgh?

“You mean there's another one? Sidney? Yeah, I've heard of him,” kidded his namesake Bobby, the veteran infielder. “He's halfway decent.”

The other Crosby hasn't been too shabby himself lately.

Thus far, Crosby has shuttled between shortstop and first base and played both reasonably well. Better yet, he has delivered several key hits already, a two-out, RBI single, a three-run home run and a game-tying, RBI double among them.

“When Bobby lets his natural swing play out, he can drive the ball,” general manager Neal Huntington told me this morning. “It has jumped off his bat well. Defensively, he has moved well also.”

And get this: Even though Crosby hails from Southern California, he's a puckhead from way back.

As a 10-year-old, Crosby started to play roller hockey. He liked it so much that he moved on to the ice version. “I don't follow hockey as much as he to,” he told me the other day. “But I loved to play it.”

The early plan calls for career reserve Ronny Cedeno to start at shortstop and converted catcher Jeff Clement to start at first base, but make no mistake about it -- Crosby didn't sign a one-year contract to play one day and be a healthy scratch the next one.

“They didn't promise me anything when I came here expect a chance to compete for a roster spot,” Crosby said. “But they didn't rule out a starter position as well.”

Crosby didn't come to Pittsburgh to play first base or second base or any other base for that matter. He considers himself to be a shortstop. Always has.

“In a perfect world, absolutely,” he said. “That's my ultimate goal – to start at shortstop.”

It doesn't seem that long ago when Crosby was on the short list of best young shortstops around. In 2004, as a 24-year-old Oakland Athletics rookie, he hit 22 homers and drove in 64 runs. Mind you, he accomplished that at cold, miserable Oakland Coliseum, where long fly balls go to die.

But a not-so-funny thing happened to the American League Rookie of the Year on the way to stardom. The next season his body began to break down.

By the 2008 season, Crosby was a physical wreck. The guy played with fractured ribs for one week. (Hey, the guy used to be a hockey player, remember?) A few days later, he slid into Cleveland Indians catcher Sal Fasano at home plate. Bad idea. Outweighed by 20 pounds in the matchup, he had his right ankle busted on the play.

The health issues came to a head last summer, when Crosby was diagnosed to have had a strained muscle in his back. Oops. The injury turned out to be a fractured vertebrae instead.

At 30, Crosby will tell you that he feels better than he has in years, better than in the Spring of '94, in fact.

“I can get to any ball that's hit in the shortstop area,” he said. “I still feel very comfortable there.”

Any lingering back problem would effect his swing more than anything. After long hours with batting instructors Mark McGwire and Don Long this winter, Crosby reported no problems there, either.

“To be honest, I don't think about it,” Crosby said of his role. “I know that sounds boring, but really, what else can I do? I can't worry about that stuff. If I make it a difficult decision for team management, then I've done my job.”

Sounds like a guy that wouldn't mind to be the other Crosby in the least.