The Pirates will need Andrew McCutchen — and Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco, Jung Ho Kang and Josh Bell — to go off at the plate if they want to compete in 2017, but unless they do something to address their starting rotation, it might not matter.
Just in case Chad Kuhl, Tyler Glasnow, Trevor Williams, Drew Hutchison, Steven Brault, Nick Kingham and Brandon Cumpton don’t become stars, general manager Neal Huntington needs to hedge his bets and come up with a couple of veterans for next season.
Clint Hurdle said Wednesday that as far as he was concerned, the Pirates have only two pitchers — Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon — who have locked up a spot in the rotation.