Diary of a Callup/McCutchen/Gorzelanny

[Witlon]

Thought this was intresting, as Josh Sharpless was recalled from the minors and some inside information on his big day.

Link: Pirates Notebook: Sharpless' card drawn for call-up

By Paul Meyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

CINCINNATI -- Josh Sharpless and three of his Indianapolis teammates were playing cards in his hotel room in Scranton early yesterday morning.

Fittingly, the card game is named "Pluck."

That's because during the card game, Sharpless learned he had been "plucked" by the Pirates.

Sharpless, a right-hander from Freedom, yesterday joined the Pirates, who sent right-hander Brian Rogers to Indianapolis.

Sharpless and his mates watched the Pirates on television Saturday night and saw Rogers allow home runs to Edwin Encarnacion and Alex Gonzalez.

"A bad outing," Sharpless said. "That happens. It happens to the best. I didn't think anything was going to happen."

Especially considering Rogers just joined the Pirates from Indianapolis Tuesday.

"It totally caught me off guard," Sharpless said.

Sharpless received a phone call from Indianapolis manager Trent Jewett about 1:15 yesterday morning informing him of his call-up.

Thirty minutes later, Jewett called back with Sharpless' flight information. Jewett also told Sharpless to stay by his phone because the club was trying to get his equipment from the ballpark.

At 3 a.m., Sharpless learned his equipment couldn't be collected until yesterday morning, so he drifted to sleep about 3:20 a.m.

Less than an hour later, he was awake and on his way to the airport.

His plane landed in Cincinnati about 8:30, and he was in the Pirates' clubhouse within an hour.

Tonight, Sharpless will be back home in Pittsburgh with his fiancee, Jane Och.

"I can't wait," Sharpless said. "She's been doing all the cake testing [for their November wedding], and I'm jealous."


Breaking in


Sharpless, who pitched in 14 Pirates games last season, was 1-0 with three saves and a 2.96 earned run average in 16 Indianapolis appearances this season. He pitched 21/3 innings Saturday.

"He has a very solid breaking ball for right-handed batters," manager Jim Tracy said. "[The key is] if he can throw his fastball consistently enough for strikes to open the door for his breaking ball. We'll find out."


Gorzelanny OK


Tom Gorzelanny, struck on his left thumb by a line drive in St. Louis Thursday, threw his usual between-starts bullpen yesterday and is set to make his next start tomorrow night against San Diego.


McCutchen above .200

Center fielder Andrew McCutchen, the Pirates' top pick in the 2005 draft, has yet to hit well for Class AA Altoona this season. His batting average has been under .200 almost all year, although he did climb over .200 Saturday (.207).

Curve manager Tim Leiper believes that he is set to get hot.

"He's right there. He's absolutely right there," Leiper said. "The whole league is throwing him outside, and he gets big with his swing. It happens with young players. He has to use his hands, not his shoulders. But he's handling himself like a champion."

[redsrbetter]

Just wanted to say that it is dissapointing to see McCutchen not hitting. The dude is very talented and just shocks me that his development is slwon down. Any knowledge as to why?

[Witlon]

Not really, haven't been any injury problems reported. It could just be a slow start, I mean, all pros get them at times, and AMc got his to start the year.

Personally, I'm thrilled to see Sharpless is finally up and that Gorzel is okay, and as much as I love AMc, he's still a year away from me being worried.