The Pirates have lost 22-year old righty swinging outfielder Gorkys Hernandez for the rest of the season due to a fractured right ring finger. Hernandez played in 92 games in AA-ball this year and he was 98 of 368 (.266 avg, .668 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 2 homers, 26 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. The Pirates were probably going to call up Hernandez when rosters expanded in September but his injury will prevent that from happening.

The Pirates have signed 26-year old righty reliever/starter Travis Chick to a minor league deal. Chick has not pitched yet this season. He has pitched in 3 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 0-0 with a 12.60 ERA and a 3.40 WHIP. Chick has also pitched in 189 games (142 starts) in his 8 years in the minors and he is 48-45 with 1 save, a 4.26 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. It will be interesting to see if Chick can work his way to Pittsburgh before the 2010 season is over.

UPDATE: (8/13/2010) - The Pirates have traded Chick to the Rangers for either a player to be named later or cash. Chick only pitched in 1 AAA-game for the Pirates and it wasn’t a pretty one. He pitched 1 inning in his only appearance in AAA for the Pirates and he gave up 4 hits, walked 1 batter and he gave up 3 earned runs. This is a great move no matter what the Pirates get for Chick.

25-year old righty swinging LF Lastings Milledge just doesn’t have enough power to play a corner outfield spot. Milledge has played in 84 games this year and he is 80 of 289 (.277 avg, .728 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 3 homers, 32 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. I’m not saying that the Pirates should trade Milledge as he is a talented player. But, the Pirates’ offense needs some more thump out of his bat if he’s going to continue to start in LF.

The Pirates have designated 38-year old righty reliever Brendan Donnelly for assignment. He pitched in 38 games (0 starts) for the Pirates this year and he was 3-1 with a 5.58 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. Donnelly has walked 25 batters in only 30 2/3 innings and that’s the likely reason that he’s a goner in Pittsburgh. Donnelly only allowed 26 hits in 30 2/3 innings for the Bucs but six of them left the field. The Pirates will be better off letting some of their younger pitchers get the innings that they would have given to Donnelly.

UPDATE: (7/29/2010) - The Pirates have released Donnelly.

The Pirates have sold the rights to 25-year old righty starting pitcher Hayden Penn and 31-year old righty reliever Vinnie Chulk to Japanese baseball teams. Penn was a disaster in his short stint with the Pirates this year. He pitched in 3 games (0 starts) for the Pirates and he was 0-0 with a 30.86 ERA and a 4.71 WHIP. Penn also pitched in 12 games (all starts) in AAA-ball for the Pirates and he was 4-4 with a 4.68 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. Chulk didn’t appear in any games for the Pirates this year. He pitched in 28 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball and he was 1-0 with a 4.96 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. No matter how much cash the Pirates got for these two clowns I think it was a good deal for them.