When the Pirates acquired 33-year old righty swinging outfielder Ryan Ludwick from the Padres at the trade deadline, they were expecting him to give the offense a jolt. That hasn’t happened as of yet. He has played in 16 games for the Pirates so far this year and he is 12 for 51 (.235 avg, .605 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 0 homers and 5 RBIs. He has also whiffed 15 times already for the Pirates, often looking like he has a hole in his bat. Ludwick has now played in 117 games overall this year for the Pirates & Padres and he is 102 for 429 (.238 avg, .666 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 11 homers, 69 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Pirates hope he picks up the pace with the bat for them soon.

When Jose Tabata comes off the disabled list, 30-year old lefty swinging RF/1B Garrett Jones is likely to lose a lot of P.T. Ryan Ludwick will likely slide over to RF to start and Jones won’t get any starts at 1B with Derrek Lee there. Jones has played in 100 games for the Pirates so far this year and he is 69 for 287 (.240 avg, .763 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 12 homers, 43 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. 33-year old righty swinging Matt Diaz (Jones’ platoon partner) is also in line to lose a lot of P.T. going forward. He has played in 84 games for the Pirates so far this year and he is 50 for 187 (.267 avg, .643 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 0 homers, 16 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Despite Jones and Diaz losing P.T., it’s the best thing for the Pirates right now. Jones and Diaz will give the Pirates a nice pair of pinch hitters late in games.

28-year old righty swinging SS Ronny Cedeno isn’t hitting a lick for the Pirates this year. Cedeno has played in 67 games for the Pirates so far this year and he is 47 for 211 (.223 avg, .590 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 2 homers, 18 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Cedeno has now played in 252 games in his three years with the Pirates and he is 207 for 834 (.248 avg, .658 OPS) with 83 runs scored, 15 homers, 77 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. The Pirates really should look into ways to replace Cedeno as having him in the lineup is like having two pitchers in it and it would be hard to win that way.

The Pirates tried to get a nice bargain in inking 34-year old lefty swinging 1B Lyle Overbay over the winter, but he just hasn’t panned out for them yet. Overbay has played in 47 games for the Pirates so far this year and he is 39 for 167 (.234 avg, .654 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 4 homers, 16 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has been a little better in May, but not much. Overbay has played in 20 games so far this May and he is 18 for 73 (.247 avg, .697 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 3 homers, 5 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Pirates need Overbay to pick up the pace with the bat, because they are depending on him.

24-year old lefty swinging 3B Pedro Alvarez burst onto the scene in Pittsburgh last summer. He played in 95 games for the Pirates last year and he was 89 for 347 (.256 avg, .787 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 16 homers and 64 RBIs. Alvarez also whiffed 119 times last year which should have sent out some Red Flags. He is off to a rough start this year for the Pirates. He has played in 34 games for the Pirates so far this year and he is 25 for 119 (.210 avg, .563 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 1 homer, 7 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Alvarez has also whiffed 41 times which is becoming a problem due to his lack of power so far this year. When guys are cranking homers, not many care about the whiffs. The Pirates are sticking with Alvarez for now, but he is likely on a short leash so he needs to start hitting the ball.