27-year old righty starting pitcher Ross Ohlendorf has taken advantage of his opportunity to win a job in the starting rotation last spring and the Pirates have been benefitting from it. He has started 26 games for the Pirates this season and he is 11-9 with a 4.17 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Ohlendorf was one of the players that was acquired from the Yankees in the Xavier Nady/Damaso Marte trade which is looking one sided in the Pirates favor so far.

UPDATE: The Pirates have shut down Ohlendorf for the rest of the season. He started 29 games for the Pirates this season and he was 11-10 with a 3.92 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. Usually you only see this kind of move with kids so it’s curious that at 27 years old that Ohlendorf is getting shut down. Maybe he’s hurting a little bit.

The Pirates have signed 30-year old righty reliever Jorge Julio to a minor league deal. Julio pitched in 15 games (0 starts) for the Brewers earlier this season and he was 1-1 with a 7.79 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP. He has now pitched in 453 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 17-34 with 99 saves, a 4.43 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. The Pirates might give him a chance to show if he has anything left in September.

The Pirates have outrighted 28-year old lefty swinging outfielder Jeff Salazar to AAA and he deserved it. Salazar played in 21 games for the Pirates this season and he was 1 for 23 (.043 avg, .197 OPS) with 1 run scored, 1 RBI and 1 stolen base. This was a move that had to be made as Salazar was looking hopeless with a bat in his hands.

The Pirates have claimed 25-year old righty reliever Jon Meloan off waivers from the Rays. Meloan pitched in 35 games (2 starts) in AAA-ball this season and he was 0-0 with a 5.02 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. He has also pitched in 7 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 0-0 with a 8.68 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP. Meloan does have a decent little upside as he was the Indians’ #18 rated prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America.

UPDATE: The Pirates have released Jon Meloan. Meloan pitched in 6 games (0 starts) for the Pirates AAA team and he was 0-0 with a 1.17 ERA and a 0.52 WHIP. He only allowed 3 hits while whiffing 8 batters in only 7 2/3 innings for the AAA Pirates. I’m not so sure why the rebuilding Pirates didn’t give him a look in September instead of getting rid of him.

UPDATE II: The Oakland A’s have claimed Jon Meloan off waivers from the Pirates.

The Pirates have traded 25-year old righty reliever Harvey Garcia to the Dodgers for either a player to be named later or cash. Garcia pitched in 12 games (0 starts) in Rookie and A-ball for the Pirates this season and he was 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP. This could come back to haunt the Pirates as Garcia was once one of the brighest prospects in all of baseball.