Notes On An Off Day

 The world keeps on spinnin', even on an off day...

• The Pirates have yet to announce a starting pitcher for Thursday's game. They're waiting to see how well Wandy Rodriguez responds to his throwing session today. He'll go if all is well, and Charlie Morton is likely to get the call otherwise, with Wandy then going on the DL and Charlie coming off it. 
• Gerrit Cole is the Bucs fourth overall #1 draft pick. The others were IF Jeff King in 1986, RHP Kris Benson in 1996 and RHP Bryan Bullington in 2002.
• Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe thinks the Pirates would have to be interested in Astro pitcher Bud Norris.
• Cris Cwik of Fangraphs has a feature on Francisco Liriano, and thinks the Cisco Kid might have figured it out this season.
• A big part of the Pirate pitching success has been because of strong defense. The Buc defense has a runs saved total of 25, second in MLB, and an UZR/150 of 4.9, which is fourth.
• The Bucs and Reds are both four games behind the Cards with 37-26 records, and 3-1/2 games up in the wild card race on San Fran and the Rockies.
• Jared Hughes will have his shoulder examined over the next couple of days to determine the cause and extent of his injury. 
• The Pirates have scored 20 runs in eight June games. Take away Saturday's six run explosion, and the Bucs average a pair of runs per outing this month.
• Expect the Pirate draft signings to be held up until after Gerrit Cole's start so as not to be a buzzkill. Several guys have already told their local papers that they were turnin' pro, and the Jamestown Jammers (6/17), where most of the college kids will start, and GCL Pirates (6/18), where the high school players will land, start next week