Catching Up On The News...

• Clint Hurdle shuffled the rotation for the Reds series, thanks to the Thursday off day. Wandy Rodriguez and James McDonald will open, and AJ Burnett will work the Sunday game instead of Erik Bedard, who will go Monday against Arizona. Cincy will counter with Mat Latos, Max Leake and Homer Bailey. The Reds have won 14-of-15, so the Bucs will have their work cut out for them.
• After the Red series concludes on Sunday, the Pirates are home for eleven straight contests against Arizona, San Diego and Los Angeles.
• Cutch was named the NL Player of the Month for July, the second straight month he's taken the honor. He batted .446 with 7 homers, 15 RBI, 22 runs, a .510 OBP and .739 SLG. McCutch's hit total (41) led the majors and he had 12 multi-hit outings. Cutch is the first Pirate  to be named POTM in back-to-back months since Bobby Bonilla in 1988 and the first MLB player to win it consecutively since Ryan Howard in 2006. Andrew McCutchen is a bad, bad man.
• Wendy Thurm of Fangraphs wonders if "The Pirate Bullpen Will Fold Down The Stretch?"
• Dayn Perry of CBS Sports takes his shot at the deadline players providing the most impact to their new teams. He picks Wandy Rodriguez as #3 among pitchers, behind Zack Grienke and Ryan Dempster. Travis Snider was #5 among position players - and yes, behind Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino.
• Don't look now, but Jose Tabata is hitting .310 at Indy. Could he end up the RH outfielder the Bucs are looking for? JT has been on a streak ever since all the articles about him pouting in the minors hit the papers. And it you're looking outside the box, Scott Podsednik was just released and is a FA.
• A couple of Bucs recovering from major injuries are wending their way back to service. 1B Nick Evans (wrist) and OF Andrew Lambo (hamate surgery) are making rehab appearances in Florida, while OF Josh Bell (knee surgery) is still in the running and jogging stage of recovery; the Bucs hope to get him some playing time before the season is over.