Friday Pre-Game No-Game Notes

All for naught; the game has been postponed and will be played Monday night. And what makes them think it'll be any drier then?

-- Jeff Karstens faces off against Washington's Livian Hernandez tonight as the Bucs return home. The game is scheduled for 7:05 PM and will be shown on Root Sports. EDIT - no, not tonight. But both teams are expected to keep the same starters for tomorrow.

-- The lineup: Andrew McCutchen CF, Jose Tabata LF, Lyle Overbay 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Garrett Jones RF, Ryan Doumit C, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Ronny Cedeno SS, Jeff Karstens P. Should be the same tomorrow, too.

-- The expected market for Brandon Wood never developed; the Bucs took the DFA'ed Angel SS as a waiver claim, which shows just how far his star has fallen. Josh Rodriguez was let loose; if unclaimed, the Rule 5 selection has to be offered back to Cleveland. They also recalled Pedro Ciriaco, probably so the bench wouldn't be short until Wood arrives in town.

The pick-up can't hurt, considering Ronny Cedeno's start and JR's play off the bench, but smacks of the Andy Marte/Josh Fields acquisitions to ol' GW. Well, at least there's a real SS on the bench now. If you're wondering, Wood is out of options and will be arbitration-eligible after this season.

Wood has a fan in Tony Sanchez, who tweeted: "Played with Brandon Wood in the Fall League. Awesome guy with big time talent. You guys will love him."

Matt Eddy of Baseball America says this about the once big-time prospect: "We'll know a lot more about Brandon Wood after he gets a shot to play every day for the Pirates...A change of scenery will do him good. But even if he doesn't quite break through, he'll have a long Triple-A career if he wants one. It's hard for organizations to find true power bats on the minor league free agent market who can also play a skill position like third base or shortstop."

If nothing else, it shows how little faith the suits have in Ronny Cedeno, who's hitting .170 with three errors in the early going. Wonder how long it will take to plug Wood into the everyday SS gig?

-- Speaking of AAAA SS's, the Nats called up Brian Bixler.

-- The Nationals own the MLB's second-lowest team average at .218, behind only San Diego (.217). Those numbers make the Pirates .239 team BA look a little better.

-- McCutch's day off Wednesday was to allow him to spend the day with his ailing father, who is in a Florida hospital. Best wishes for his speedy recovery.

-- Jose Ascanio was hit in the temple by a line drive yesterday, but is back in the clubhouse today. He says he's ready to go, but still has to pass a series of medical tests before he's cleared for action.