28-year old righty reliever Daniel McCutchen is pitching pretty well this year for the Pirates and it has been a pleasant surprise. In his first two years with the Pirates, McCutchen pitched in 34 games (15 starts) in which he was 3-7 with a 5.45 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. This year though, they have been using him exclusively in relief this year and the results have been good. McCutchen has pitched in 59 games (0 starts) for the Pirates so far this year and he is 4-3 with a 2.88 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. It looks like he’s found a new home in the Pirates’ bullpen assuming that he finishes the season strongly.

28-year old righty reliever Chris Resop is having another solid year for the Pirates. He has pitched in 47 games (0 starts) for the Pirates so far this year and he is 3-2 with 1 save, a 3.30 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. He has whiffed 53 batters while only giving up 35 hits in his first 43 2/3 innings so far this year, which shows just how nasty he has been. Resop has now pitched in 69 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the Pirates and he is 3-2 with 1 save, a 2.87 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. Resop has been quite a find for the Pirates.

30-year old righty starting pitcher Kevin Correia has been selected to the N.L. All-Star team to represent the Pirates. He will be replacing Cole Hamels who pitched for the Phillies yesterday. Correia has pitched in 20 games (19 starts) for the Pirates so far this year and he is 11-7 with a 4.01 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. He has given up 123 hits in his first 116 2/3 innings but he has limited the damage by only walking 26 batters so far this year. It’s looking like Pirates made a nice move in signing Correia over the winter.

The starting pitchers for the Pittsburgh Pirates have been a huge surprise this year as they have been pretty darn good as a unit. Coming into this season, the Pirates’ starting rotation had a combined record of 115-169 with a 4.70 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP in the major leagues. With that in mind, the expectations were about as low as they can get for the rotation in 2011. But, the five starters of the Pirates have combined to go 35-28 with a 3.50 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP so far this year. If they can duplicate those numbers in the second half of the year (I’m a little skeptical of that happening), then the Pirates will stay in the playoff hunt. 30-year old righty Kevin Correia has been the leader of the rotation so far this year as he has pitched in 19 games (18 starts) for the Pirates so far this year and he is 11-6 with a 3.74 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. 29-year old lefty Paul Maholm has been the most unlucky pitcher of the starters for the Pirates. He has started 18 games for the Pirates so far this year and he is 5-9 with a 3.08 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. If Maholm keeps pitching like he is right now, you have to think some wins are going to follow. 28-year old righty Jeff Karstens qualifies as a huge surprise so far this year for the Pirates. He has pitched in 19 games (15 starts) for the Pirates and he is 7-4 with a 2.55 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. 27-year old righty Charlie Morton was pathetic last year for the Pirates but he has turned his performance around so far this year. Morton has pitched in 16 games (all starts) for the Pirates so far this year and he is 7-5 with a 3.80 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. The Pirates hope that he can keep up the good work in the second half of the year. 26-year old righty James McDonald has the biggest upside of the pitchers on the Pirates’ rotation but he hasn’t been as effective as the other guys this year. McDonald has pitched in 17 games (all starts) for the Pirates so far this year and he is 5-4 with a 4.40 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. The Pirates need McDonald to pitch up to his ability in the second half of the 2011 season. The Pirates need these guys to keep up the good work in the second half of the season, that way they can be contenders instead of pretenders.

29-year old righty reliever Joel Hanrahan came into spring training having to duke it out with fellow righty reliever Evan Meek for the closer’s job. Hanrahan won the job and he has been so awesome at it that he has been picked as the Pirates only All-Star. Hanrahan has pitched in 39 games (0 starts) for the Pirates so far this year and he is 0-1 with 25 saves, a 1.37 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. The Pirates play a lot of close games as they don’t score a lot of runs, which makes Hanrahan even more valuable to the team than most closers are. The Pirates are going to need Hanrahan to continue to dominate if they are going to stay in the playoff hunt.