23-year old righty starting pitcher Kyle McPherson is having a really solid year in the minors for the Pirates. McPherson has pitched in 24 games (all starts) in A+AA-ball this year and he is 10-5 with a 2.96 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He has only given up 124 hits in his first 140 innings this year with 127 whiffs. He has also only walked 22 batters so far this year as he is pounding the strike zone in the minors this year. He has now pitched in 108 games (86 starts) in his first five years in the minors and he is 33-25 with 1 save, a 3.50 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. McPherson wasn’t considered a big time prospect coming into this season but that might be starting to change some now.

22-year old righty swinging CF Starling Marte entered this season as the Pirates’ #4 prospect heading into this year according to Baseball America. Marte has played in 78 games in AA-ball so far this year and he is 101 for 321 (.315 avg, .810 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 5 homers, 28 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. Marte has now played in 313 games in his first five years in the minors and he is 356 for 1,188 (.300 avg, .795 OPS) with 214 runs scored, 20 homers, 156 RBIs and 102 stolen bases. Marte could get promoted to AAA soon if he keeps hitting like he is right now.

The Pirates have sent 26-year old righty reliever Cesar Valdez to the Marlins for a player to be named later or cash. Valdez pitched in 34 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Pirates this year and he was 1-1 with 5 saves, a 3.86 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Valdez pitched in 9 games (2 starts) for the D-Backs last year (his first time in the majors) and he was 1-2 with a 7.65 ERA and a 1.95 WHIP. The Pirates didn’t see Valdez helping him much this year so they decided to get something for him.

25-year old lefty swinging LF Alex Presley has been called up by the Pirates. Presley came into this season as the Pirates’ #20 prospect according to Baseball America. Presley has played in 75 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 98 for 292 (.336 avg, .889 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 8 homers, 36 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. He has now played in 590 games in his first six years in the minors and he is 648 for 2,232 (.290 avg, .782 OPS) with 333 runs scored, 44 homers, 279 RBIs and 74 stolen bases. Presley got his first taste of the majors last year with the Pirates. In 19 games for the Pirates last year, Presley was 6 for 23 (.261 avg, .596 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 1 stolen base. Look for Presley to get a lot of P.T. in LF while Jose Tabata is on the mend.

The Pirates have released 29-year old righty reliever Blaine Boyer. Boyer pitched in 11 games (0 starts) for the Pirates in AAA-ball this year and he was 0-0 with a 13.50 ERA and a 2.88 WHIP. Boyer gave up 14 hits (3 homers) and he walked 9 batters in only 8 innings in the minors for the Pirates which shows just how awful he was. Boyer also has pitched in 5 games (0 starts) for the Mets earlier this year and he was 0-2 with 1 save, a 10.80 ERA and a 2.10 WHIP. The Pirates won’t miss Boyer one bit going forward.