Pirate Hooks

The Pittsburgh Pirates split two games in Florida and split two more with Washington before this weekend's series against Detroit in the thrilling (ahem) return of interleague play.

I saw the first three of those games and missed tonight's as I was at the Muni and the game did not end before I had to leave for work.

So.....I'll try to catch up a bit with some hooks and some thoughts on the 18-20 Pirates....

On a non-Pirate note,check my post on NatsProspects.com run by my friend Luke Erickson on the Hagerstown Suns position players.
Be sure to look around at Luke's site for more info on the Suns along with the past Suns as they move up the prospect ladder.

James McDonald is having a breakout year thus far,but the real sleeper for now is Brad Lincoln,who should be inserted into the rotation for now in place of the struggling Kevin Correia.
Lincoln looks as strong as he ever has in his MLB chances and needs to get a regular turn every five days.

As disappointed as I am with any position player not named McCutchen thus far,the pitching has far surpassed any hopes that I have had.If this team had any hitting at all,the Pirates might be quite a surprise....

The Pirates sent down Alex Presley to Indianapolis and recalled Evan Meek to add another arm to the Pittsburgh bullpen.
I wish that I could say that someone that could turn the offense around was available at AAA,but with the arguable exception of Starling Marte (hitting .252 currently),not only is there not a current possibility of help available,there might not be one available eventually.
That shows the barren landscape of bats in the Pirates system....

I have a confession-I am not as up on the MLB draft as I have been in the past.
I have allowed my Baseball America subscription to lapse because I simply tired of paying 95 bucks a year for a magazine that hits the stores before my mailbox and therefore have a little less knowledge on this year's draft crop.
Thus far,many mock drafts have the Pirates taking Devin Marrero a shortstop from Arizona State,that has struggled with the stick this season.
Considering the Pirates lack of bats in the system,I am not in favor of taking a player at positional need,let alone one that appears to have a glove first tag with a top ten pick.
Taking low ceiling college players that look to be average bats is a recipe for mediocrity and no one can argue that fact....

I'll try to get in touch with guru Wilbur Miller for a few words on Marrero and a few others that Wilbur might prefer in Marrero's place....