The Pirates have lost 27-year old righty starting pitcher Kevin Hart for probably the rest of the 2010 season as he has torn the labrum in his right shoulder. Hart pitched in 5 games (4 starts) in AAA-ball so far this season and he was 1-0 with 1 save, a 6.75 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. He was likely going to get a call up from the Pirates who are having a ton of issues with the starting rotation right now. Hart pitched in 10 games (all starts) for the Pirates last season and he was 1-8 with a 6.92 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP. This is not a big loss to the Pirates but it will hurt Hart who was going to get another chance with them soon.

27-year old righty reliever Evan Meek was decent for the Pirates last season but he is really stepping up his game so far this year. Meek has played in 11 games (0 starts) for the Pirates so far this season and he is 1-0 with 1 save, a 0.60 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He has whiffed 15 batters in 15 innings so far this season showing that his stuff has been pretty good so far. He has also only allowed 11 hits and he has only walked 4 batters. The important number with Meek is the walks as his control was out of whack most of last year for the Pirates.

1B Jeff Clement was the prize of the Jack Wilson/Ian Snell trade with the Mariners last summer. He was supposedly going to give the Pirates a power bat at 1B starting this season. But, that projection has been way off so far this year. Clement has played in 16 games for the Pirates this season and he is 8 for 48 (.167 avg, .524 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 2 homers and 4 RBIs. He’s already starting to lose some playing time to Garrett Jones at 1B. If he doesn’t start hitting soon Jones will bump him at 1B with Ryan Church starting in RF. Church has played in 13 games this season for the Pirates and he is 9 for 31 (.290 avg, .753 OPS) with 7 runs scored and 4 RBIs. The Pirates probably won’t wait too much longer for Clement to get going with the bat so he better turns things around fast.

The Pirates have designated outfielder John Raynor for assignment. Raynor played in 11 games for the Pirates this season and he was 2 for 10 (.200 avg, .473 OPS) with 1 run scored. The Pirates will have to likely return Raynor to the Marlins if he clears waivers (if they want him back). The Pirates had to get rid of Raynor because they needed his roster spot for 27-year old righty starting picher Jeff Karstens who will start tonight’s game against the Brewers. Karstens pitched in 5 games (1 start) in AAA-ball so far this season and he was 1-2 with a 7.31 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. He pitched in 39 games (13 starts) for the Pirates last season and he was 4-6 with a 5.42 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. The bad thing for the Pirates is that I don’t think Karstens is much better (it at all) then the pitchers they have been running out to the mound to start games this season.

UPDATE: (5/6/2010) - The Pirates were unable to work out a deal with the Marlins so they had to return him to them. He was a Rule 5 Draft Pick over the winter.

The Pirates have sent 27-year old righty starting pitcher Daniel McCutchen to the minors and he certainly deserved this demotion. McCutchen pitched in 4 games (3 starts) for the Pirates so far this season and he is 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA and a 2.17 WHIP. He gave up 19 hits (5 homers) and he walked 7 batters in only 12 innings for the Pirates this season. The Pirates have brought back lefty Brian Burres from the minors. He pitched in 2 games (1 start) earlier this season for the Pirates and he was 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP. Don’t expect much out of him either as he is not a good pitcher.