Jose Bautista beat out Jose Castillo in Spring Training for the starting thirdbase job, but skeptics doubted he could keep the job.  He is proving those people wrong so far this season.  In 20 games so far this season, Bautista is 24 for 80 (.300 avg, .759 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 5 RBIs.  The Pirates need him to keep producing because the Pirates are having some problems scoring runs.

The Pirates have placed Humberto Cota on the 15 day disabled list with a strained right shoulder.  Cota has only played in 4 games this season and he’s 3 for 12 (.250 avg, .666 OPS) with 1 run scored and 3 RBIs.  The Pirates have recalled Ryan Doumit from the minors.  He has played in 5 games and he’s 2 for 7 (.286 avg, .804 OPS) with 2 RBIs.  Doumit could actually get more playing time than Cota did with Ronny Paulino struggling a little bit so far this season.

When the Pirates traded for Adam LaRoche they figured that he would give Jason Bay good protection in the lineup, but they’ve been wrong to this point.  In 16 games so far this season, LaRoche is only 6 for 57 (.105 avg, .542 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 3 homers and 7 RBIs.  LaRoche has whiffed an alarming 22 times so far this season and often has looked helpless at the plate.  The Pirates have almost no choice but to let LaRoche work things out because he has a larger upside than anyone who could replace him.

The Pirates went 3-4 last week as they were outscored 39-29.  The Pirates are having a rough time scoring runs and they will need to improve on that soon because they’re digging themselves a hole that will be hard to get out of.  They are currently in 5th place in the National League Central, 3.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers.

Jose Castillo hasn’t been able to adjust to his new role as a utility man.  In 6 games, Castillo is only hitting .105 with a .263 OPS and he’s already made 2 errors.  He’s 2 for 19 with no runs scored or RBIs this season.  The Pirates might be better off trying to trade Castillo to a team in need of a starting infielder, because he might not be cut out to be a bench player in the majors.