Notes on an Off Day

Notes on an off day:

• Starling Marte is "unplugged," as Clint Hurdle terms it, because he has just three hits since May 24th, covering 35 at-bats, and dropped his average from .264 to .235. Starling's chase-off-the-plate rate of 35% and whiff rate of 28.5% aren't helping his cause. He's also had a handful of mental miscues, so the Pirates back to the drawing board with him.
• Jon Heyman of CBS Sports doesn't dwell too much on Gregory Polanco's "when," but on his "how much?" He says the Bucs and Polanco still have a sizable gulf in contracts terms.
• Gregory Polanco, Matt Hague and Tony Sanchez all had three hits for Indy in an 11-2 win last night. Two on Sanchez's balls left the yard, his first multi-homer game as a pro.
• RHP Duke Welker has been disappointing at Indy since the Pirates brought him back from Minnesota. Sound's like he's got a good reason - he's having elbow surgery today.
• RHP Luis Heredia, back from a two-month hiatus with a sore shoulder, was scheduled to start last night for the West Virginia Power. The game was rained out, so he'll try again today. It's nice to see a pitcher coming back from the DL rather than joining it.
• Ex-Bucs: AJ Burnett is now the second pitcher to pass Tommy John in career strikeouts after having Tommy John surgery (the other was John Smoltz). John had 2,245 K, AJ 2,247 and Smoltz 3,084..