Blogs

Zach Duke is ready to make his 150th career start tonight and make a bit of Pirates history in the process. Paul Maholm had start No. 150 on Sunday, and they’ll be the first pair of teammates in the 124-year history of the team to reach the benchmark in the same year.

This is the second time Joel Hanrahan has had his pitching coach yanked out from under him midway through a season.

Pirates manager John Russell this morning fired bench coach Gary Varsho and pitching coach Joe Kerrigan. “It was a very gut-wrenching decision,” Russell said. “There are some issues that I’ve been working through for quite some time that could not be resolved in a way which I felt was for the betterment of this team. [...]

Ryan Doumit was activated off the DL today and to make room for him on the roster, the Pirates sent catcher Erik Kratz back down to Triple-A Indianapolis.

The Pirates optioned lefty reliever Justin Thomas back to Triple-A Indianapolis in order to fit newly acquired righty Chan Ho Park on the active roster. Park arrived in Pittsburgh last night, and threw a bullpen session for pitching coach Joe Kerrigan after the game against the Rockies. Also, right fielder/catcher Ryan Doumit (boy, it felt [...]

The race for the NL Central title is down to the Reds and Cardinals, two teams the Pirates have faced in the past week. Asked to predict the winner, Pirates manager John Russell went with St. Louis.

Because he’s been dinged up so much this season, should Andrew McCutchen get more time off than usual down the stretch? “If you ask John Russell that, he’ll look at you like you’re crazy,” McCutchen told me. In fact, I’d already asked JR. The manager said both McCutchen and rookie Jose Tabata, who will turn [...]

The Pirates today claimed right-handers Chan Ho Park and Chris Resop. Both will pitch out of the bullpen, as the Pirates continue to seek the right mix of middle-inning help.

The Pirates today claimed right-hander Chris Resop off waivers from the Atlanta Braves. Resop, 27, will join the team Thursday.

Tuesday, Andrew McCutchen was beaned on the back of the neck by a 90-mph fastball.