22-year old lefty swinging 3B Pedro Alvarez is on the fast track to Pittsburgh due to the failings of Andy LaRoche so far. Alvarez was the Pirates’ top prospect coming into this season according to Baseball America. He played in 126 games in A+AA ball this season and he was 134 for 465 (.288 avg, .913 OPS) with 80 runs scored, 27 homers and 95 RBIs. Alvarez struck out 129 times this season but he also walked 71 times showing that he’s not a complete hacker. The Pirates will probably give Alvarez a shot to win the starting 3B job next spring.

The Pirates have recalled 22-year old righty swinging OF Andrew McCutchen from the minors to replace the departed Nate McLouth as the starting center fielder. McCutchen was the #2 prospect in the Pirates’ minor league system heading into this season according to Baseball America. McCutchen played in 49 games in AAA-ball this season and he was 61 for 201 (.303 avg, .854 OPS) with 41 runs scored, 4 homers, 20 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. He made his major league debut last night for the Pirates and he was 2 for 4 with 3 runs scored, 1 RBI and a stolen base. The Pirates have high hopes for McCutchen and they hope he makes them look good for trading McLouth.

The Pirates have traded 30-year old righty swinging catcher Michel Hernandez to the Rays for cash considerations. Hernandez played in 76 games in AAA this season for the Pirates and he was 67 for 252 (.266 avg, .690 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 3 homers and 17 RBIs. The Pirates won’t miss Hernandez as they have quite a few catchers in their system that they like better than him.

The Pirates have recalled 25-year old righty swinging Steve Pearce up from AAA ball and he will likely get most of the playing time in RF replacing Xavier Nady. Pearce was the #3 prospect in the Pirates’ minor league system heading into this season according to Baseball America. Pearce has played in 93 games in AAA ball this season and he was 91 for 353 (.258 avg, .735 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 11 homers, 54 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Pearce has also played in 3 games for the Pirates this season and he was 1 for 3 (.333 avg). The Pirates hope that Pierce makes the most of his big chance in the majors as they need him to replace Nady’s production with the bat. Pearce has now played in 26 games in his major league career and he is 21 for 71 (.296 avg, .750 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 6 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. If Pearce is overmatched in the majors look for Jason Michaels to get some extended playing time. Michaels has played in 54 games for the Pirates this season and he is 26 for 109 (.239 avg, .712 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 4 homers and 26 RBIs. The Pirates will miss Nady but they hope Pearce can help them lessen the blow.

22-year old switch hitting 3B Neil Walker is off to a rough start in AAA ball for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Walker is a converted catcher who was the #2 prospect in the Pirates’ minor league system according to Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook coming into this season. The fact that the Pirates don’t have many players better than Walker makes me think that they will have to make some trades at the end of this month to bring in some talented youngsters. Walker has now played in 88 games in AAA ball this season and he is 75 for 328 (.229 avg, .694 OPS) with 51 runs scored, 13 homers, 46 RBIs and 4 stolen bases.