[wvuauthor]

Good news for Pirates fans; Kip Wells is expected to pitch this season. There is a chance it could be during the first half of the season. The story is below...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06066/666300.stm

[EmpireWF]

Good thing. I thought he wouldn't pitch this season with his troubles. Best of luck to him and the Bucs.

[Mid-depth_Reporter]

He's a good pitcher to have on your team if you can score some runs. And after a surgery, he might need some more help than usual. Who knows. Luckily, Pittsburgh looks to have some good bats this year. Will it be enough, though?

[wvuauthor]

Mid,

I am not sure if it will be enough or not; but I do think that they can make a run at a .500 record. If the young pitchers can stay healthy they will have the ability to stay in some games. Hopefully Casey, Burnitz, and Bay will provide some good middle of the lineup power.

[Lefty Noob]

Yeah, I heard the doctors said he could be back by the All-Star break. But do you think he'll start?

My gut tells me the Bucs might want to use him out of the pen, at least at first, to keep his pitch count down and to keep him from throwing too much too fast.

[wvuauthor]

Lefty,

I definitely agree that he will be in the pen at first. That way he can keep his pitch count down. Plus, I am hoping that the Bucs have an established rotation by then; here's another story in today's PGH Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06067/666715.stm