The Pittsburgh Pirates are 30-52 on the season as they are in last place in the N.L. Central, 16.5 games behind the Reds. But you can’t blame Evan Meek for the fact that the Pirates suck. The 27-year old righty reliever has pitched in 38 games (0 starts) for the Pirates so far this season and he is 4-2 with 1 save, a 0.96 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP. Meek has only given up 29 hits in 47 innings this season for the Pirates while whiffing 42 batters showing how dominating he has been. This will be Meek’s first All-Star appearance and he could be the Pirates’ closer by the end of the year if they decide to trade Octavio Dotel.

28-year old lefty swinging OF/1B Garrett Jones finished 7th in the voting for the Rookie of the Year Award in the National League. He played in 82 games for the Pirates last season and he was 92 for 314 (.293 avg, .938 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 21 homers, 44 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. It will be interesting to see this season if Jones’ success was a mirage or not as he got off to a really fast start before fading late in the year. Either way the Pirates will no doubt be giving him a lot of at bats this season to find out.

23-year old righty swinging outfielder Andrew McCutchen finished fourth in the voting for the Rookie of the Year Award in the National League. He might have won the award if he made the Pirates out of spring training. McCutchen played in 108 games for the Pirates last season and he was 124 for 433 (.286 avg, .836 OPS) with 74 runs scored, 12 homers, 54 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. The Pirates are very excited about what lies ahead in McCutchen’s future as he has the look of a impact player.