Thursday: Off Day Notes

The Bucs are settled in San Diego for a day of rest before kicking off some left coast hardball. It's quiet today, but here are a couple of bits to sate your Bucco jones:

• The Pirates road trip continues tomorrow with a weekend set against the Padres, followed with a three-game set against the LA Dodgers starting on Monday. The Bucs are 1-3 v San Diego ans 1-2 v LA this year, with both series at PNC Park.
• Still no news on Chad Kuhl's forearm soreness; not sure if that's good or bad. The Bucs have a growing list of guys on the DL - Fran Cervelli, S-Rod, Michael Feliz and Enny Romero are short-term while AJ Schugel, Nick Burdi and Nik Turley are on the 60-day. Jung-Ho Kang and Chris Bostick, both with a more-or-less realistic shot at the big club, are on the minor league DL.

It's been a bumpy road for JHK... (photo source: MLB.com)

• Joshua Carney of The Sports Daily/Pirates Breakdown wonders if it's time to go to a full youth movement.
• Jerry DiPaola of the Trib looks at the Bucco spending - or lack thereof - and points out that's mainly due to young pitchers, among other things. He adds that the Pirates have a couple of issues beyond the pocketbook.
• Prospects SS Oneil Cruz (West Virginia) and 1B Mason Martin (Bristol) made this week's Baseball America Hot Sheet.
• Mark Sheldon of MLB.com picks the international player prospects to watch in the NL Central. For Pittsburgh, he likes CF Lolo Sanchez.
• For our history buffs, lots of stuff OTD: Hans 3,000th hit (1914), Pops 300th HR (1973), Bill Madlock trade (1979), 13-game skid (2006), Cole Train goes 4-for-4 to start his career (2013) and a boatload of more mundane happenings. Scroll down for the stories.