Pedro Promoted, and Other News

I've been out of town, visiting family and friends being a part of a wedding (which was beautiful), so I haven't had the chance to update much. A fair amount has been going on the past week or so however.

Pedro Alvarez was just promoted to AA Altoona after putting up some decent numbers in High A (see sidebar). His strike out total was high, as was his error total, but hopefully those were just a product of the poorer fields and worse pitching down in the low minors. I'm very excited to see how he performs at this next level. I'm guessing Alvarez will remain in Altoona the rest of this season and begin 2010 in AAA.

Also, 2006 first rounder Brad Lincoln was promoted to AAA Indianapolis. He has been pitching very well for Altoona, with a 2.28 ERA in 75 innings. It's very exciting seeing 2 of our top prospects performing well and moving up a level. Don't expect Lincoln to reach Pittsburgh this year, but he may be competing for a starting rotation spot next Spring.

In other transaction news, Craig Monroe was designated for assignment and Steve Pearce was recalled. Part of Monroe's DFA was accredited to his lack of hustle on a play in Minnesota last week, but really, does that matter too much? Monroe had no future in Pittsburgh and Pearce might. So I'm glad to see this change. With Adam LaRoche likely to be traded in 5 weeks or so, Pearce will be the logical replacement, at least in the short term.

What else? A rough road trip through Minnesota and Colorado. And that sweep in Denver was especially painful against Jim Tracy. But on the plus side, Andrew McCutchen is all kinds of awesome.