Wednesday Lineup & Notes

The Nats' LHP Ross Detwiler (3-1, 1.59) goes against LHP Erik Bedard (2-4, 2.65). Detwiler bumped John Lannan out of the DC rotation during camp, and has been lights out since. Bedard has been on a strikeout tear for Pittsburgh, with 20 K in his past 10 IP. The game starts at 7:05 and will be aired on Root Sports.

The lineup:  Jose Tabata RF, Neil Walker 2B, Andrew McCutchen CF, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Casey McGehee 1B, Yamaico Navarro LF, Rod Barajas C, Josh Harrison SS, Erik Bedard P.

Presley and Jones sit against the lefty, and Harrison gets a turn at SS. Pedro is the only LH in the lineup.

• Jeff Snedden at Rumbunter looks at the potential partners and options for a Joel Hanrahan trade. In an associated article, Gil Gerard of Rant Sports rates a Hanny deal at the top of his list of 15 players on the trade block.
• Tim Williams at Pirates Prospects examines who's ready to step in from Indy. Not much in the way of bats, but plenty of arms worth a look. 
• James Krug of issportwebs takes a look at his top ten list of Pirate prospects and how they're faring.
• OK, you web fans: The Pirates announced their first Social Media Night of 2012 will be held on Friday, May 25th, when they host the Cubs. Folk who follow the team’s official Twitter feed (@Pirates) or like the official Facebook page can get $10 off an outfield box seat (regularly $24) and an invite to a pregame reception. The Pirates will throw in a free tee and game giveaways.
• The Nationals inked old Bucco LHP Mike Gonzalez to a minor league contract yesterday. Gonzo was the Buc closer in 2006 and was traded during that off-season to Atlanta as part of the Adam LaRoche deal. He's working his way back after off-season knee surgery.
• Another blast from the blast: After being released by the White Sox, 35 year old RHP Kip Wells signed a minor league deal with the Padres.
• Ex-Bucco prospect Big Country Brad Eldred spent a week in the show with Detroit before being DFA'ed back to AAA.
• Texas OF Josh Hamilton became the 16th MLB player to hit 4 home runs in a game, adding 8 RBI and an AL-record 18 total bases against the O's last night.
• Dave Cameron of Fangraphs comes down hard on bunts: " It (the bunt) is not always the wrong move, but it is used far too often and in too many situations where swinging away is more likely to produce a positive result. We don’t live in 1953 anymore...at some point in our lifetime, teams are going to start hiring managers who understand that giving away an out should be a rare occurrence."