23-year old CF Andrew McCutchen burst on the scene last season for the Pirates playing in 108 games in which he was 124 of 433 (.286 avg, .836 OPS) with 74 runs scored, 12 homers, 54 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. He has even been better this season for the Pirates and the sky is literally the limit with him. McCutchen has played in 68 games this season for the Pirates and he is 81 of 257 (.315 avg, .870 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 7 homers, 22 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. I see McCutchen possibly being a 30/30 man in the near future for the Pirates as he is the real deal.

The Pirates have acquired 25-year old switch hitting 3B/OF Adam Davis from the Indians. Davis has played in 32 games in A+AA-ball so far this season and he is 22 of 100 (.220 avg, .678 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 3 homers, 9 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He has now played in 433 games in his five years in the minors and he is 364 of 1,578 (.231 avg, .663 OPS) with 240 runs scored, 25 homers, 138 RBIs and 54 stolen bases. No word yet on what the Pirates had to give up to get Davis but it’s hard to imagine it being too much.

The Pirates have designated 31-year old lefty swinging 2B Akinori Iwamura for assignment. Iwamura played in 54 games for the Pirates this year and he was 30 of 165 (.182 avg, .558 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 2 homers, 9 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Iwamura was a absolute bust for the Pirates and it really made no sense for them to keep him around. Iwamura has now played in 398 games in his 4 years in the majors and he is 409 of 1,514 (.270 avg, .726 OPS) with 219 runs scored, 16 homers, 113 RBIs and 32 stolen bases. Look for Iwamura to surface with a team like the Twins when he clears waivers.

UPDATE: (6/22/2010) - The Pirates have sent Iwamura to AAA.

26-year old righty swinging 3B Andy LaRoche could be a utility infielder as early as tomorrow as the Pirates will likely bring up rookie Pedro Alvarez to take over as the Pirates’ starting 3B. LaRoche has played in 50 games for the Pirates this season and he is 41 of 174 (.236 avg, .622 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 3 homers and 12 RBIs. Since coming over from the Dodgers in the Jason Bay trade a couple of years ago LaRoche has played in 249 games in which he is 201 of 862 (.233 avg, .657 OPS) with 95 runs scored, 18 homers, 88 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. He has been a huge bust to this point in his career with the Pirates and I wouldn’t be shocked if he were put on the trading block soon.

The Pirates thought that 38-year old righty reliever Brendan Donnelly was a sound investment for 2010 based on his pitching with the Marlins last year. Donnelly pitched in 30 games (0 starts) with the Marlins last year and he was 3-0 with 2 saves, a 1.78 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. But he has been awful for the Pirates so far this year. Donnelly has pitched in 21 games (0 starts) for the Pirates so far this year and he is 2-1 with a 6.27 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP. He has walked 16 batters and he’s given up 5 dingers in only 18 2/3 innings this season for the Pirates. The Pirates will likely keep him around a little while longer to see if he can turn things around but they won’t keep him all year if he keeps pitching poorly.