It’s too bad that veteran 1B Derrek Lee got hurt shortly after the Pirates dealt for him, because he has been ripping the ball. Lee has played in 13 games for the Pirates so far this year and he is 17 for 49 (.347 avg, 1.005 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 4 homers and 11 RBIs. He has now played in 98 games overall this year with the Cubs & Pirates and he is 99 for 383 (.258 avg, .744 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 16 homers, 52 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. I think the Pirates should try to re-sign Lee for 2012, as they are going to have a huge hole there if they don’t.

30-year old switch-hitting catcher Ryan Doumit has been really swinging a good bat for the Pirates since coming off the D.L. Doumit has played in 12 games so far in August and he is 13 for 40 (.325 avg, .861 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 2 homers and 4 RBIs. He has now played in 46 games this year for the Pirates and he is 38 for 133 (.286 avg, .800 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 6 homers and 19 RBIs. Doumit’s bat has been a nice asset to the Pirates since he has returned to action, as catcher has been a black hole since he and Chris Snyder got injured.

24-year old righty swinging CF Andrew McCutchen has been added to the N.L. All-Star team to replace the injured Ryan Braun (calf) who is skipping the game. McCutchen has played in 86 games for the Pirates so far this year and he is 94 for 322 (.292 avg, .893 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 13 homers, 49 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. If he stays healthy, he will likely set new career highs in runs scored (94), homers (16), RBIs (56) and maybe stolen bases (33). He deserved to be picked on the team before Braun was injured, but at least he made the team….which is likely the first of many for McCutchen in his career.

25-year old switch-hitting 2B Neil Walker has found himself batting cleanup a lot lately for the Pirates. Thus, I think he’s putting too much pressure on himself to knock in runs and it’s hurting his batting average. Walker has played in 24 games so far this June and he is 19 for 86 (.221 avg, .636 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 2 homers, 17 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has now played in 76 games for the Pirates this year and he is 72 for 286 (.252 avg, .711 OPS) with 41 runs scored, 8 homers, 50 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The Pirates will likely have to continue using Walker in the cleanup spot until some other players get healthy. Here’s to hoping that he gets back to the hitter he was in April and May for the Bucs.

24-year old righty swinging CF Andrew McCutchen is on fire with the bat for the Pirates right now. In his first 11 games in June, McCutchen is 18 for 38 (.474 avg, 1.207 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 1 homer, 10 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 62 games for the Pirates this year and he is 69 for 239 (.289 avg, .875 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 10 homers, 37 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. McCutchen is on pace to set new career highs in runs scored (94), homers (16), RBIs (56) and maybe even stolen bases (33) as he is turning into the force with the bat that the Pirates thought he would be.