? The starter recognized by most scouts as the top talent is Bryan Morris, a key part of the Jason Bay trade. But Morris simply cannot get off the ground with Class A Lynchburg: He was diagnosed this week with a tight shoulder that will keep him out four to six weeks. And this after a strained biceps shut him down late last season and surgery on a big toe slowed him all offseason. While in the Los Angeles Dodgers' system, he had reconstructive elbow surgery.

? Brad Lincoln, the Pirates' first-round draft pick in 2006 and the only other pitcher whose talent is on par with Morris', also is working back from elbow surgery, and it has come slowly: He was 6-10 with a 4.69 ERA in Class A last season and is 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA with Class AA Altoona this season. Scant traces of the expected dominance.

? Danny Moskos, the controversial first-round pick the following year, has done next to nothing as a starter (ital) and (end ital) reliever. That includes this year with Altoona, where he has a 10.38 ERA and five walks in one start and one bullpen outing.

? The prospect closest to the majors, Daniel McCutchen, part of the Xavier Nady trade, had a poor spring but has a 2.45 ERA in two starts with Class AAA Indianapolis. One American League evaluator who saw him this spring reported that McCutchen's velocity is "nowhere near" what it was while he was in the New York Yankees' system.

? Tom Gorzelanny, the most experienced and likely to help the major league rotation, will be trailed by doubts about his ability to throw strikes consistently until he proves otherwise. In two starts with Indianapolis, he has a 4.09 ERA and five walks in two starts.

Add to all that this: Finding starting pitching is not easy.

Deals such as the one involving Nady -- which netted three starters, including Ross Ohlendorf and Jeff Karstens -- are increasingly rare. Free agents cost the kind of money the Pirates are not willing or able to spend. And drafting pitchers in early rounds is a huge risk, as has been richly evident in Pittsburgh the past decade.

"If you look at an area where, all things being equal, we need to find a way to add to, it's our pitching depth," general manager Neal Huntington acknowledged. "We don't have as many arms in Indianapolis as we'd like, or in Altoona, or all the way down to A-ball."

How can he address it?

"We'll keep looking," he added. "Will we be able to strengthen that via the draft? We'll have to see how that plays out. We're not just going to take pitchers in the first 12 rounds because we need pitching. If the better player is the position player, we'll take that player. We're still accumulating talent. We can't fill holes. Trades are challenging, too. Those pitchers in the upper levels of the minors that are major league ready, they're tough to get."

Dressed to kill The Pirates' newly arrived and instantly popular camo-colored Under Armour shirts -- they are supposed to be batting-practice undergarments, under threat of fine if a player forgets to wear his -- come courtesy of the clubhouse's resident DVD and perhaps soon-to-be-TV star.

Adam LaRoche's "Buck Commander" series is coming soon to DVD and, if all works out, ESPN every Wednesday and Sunday beginning next fall.

"I get paid to do my two favorite things," he said of Baseball and hunting. "Now, if I could figure something out with golf."

LaRoche got involved with a few other Baseball players and noted hunter Willie Robertson, who created "Duck Commander," then helped a few friends get their start in a similar deer-hunting multimedia venture: Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones, Washington outfielder Ryan Langerhans and ex-pitchers Mike DeJean and Matt Duff. They were filmed through days of hunting adventures last winter in Kansas, Illinois and Iowa, then this spring around the Pirates' environs in Bradenton, Fla.

ESPN plans this fall to air six-minute "mini-shows," according to LaRoche, in a 13-week deal. If the Baseball players' "Buck Commander" show does well, it might turn into a regular series ... and far more sponsorships than BP underwear.

Why they call them firemen Some people climb mountains for recreation, but reliever Tyler Yates -- born, bred and still a resident of Hawaii -- climbs volcanoes: He recently made it to the top of Mount Kohala and, yes, it was safe: The last eruption there, according to geological studies, was 120,000 years ago, so it is classified as dormant.

"But there are people who go up the active ones, too," he said. "They even live near them."

Three are listed as active: Kilauea, Loihi and Mauna Loa.

Puck prognosticators A year ago at this time, Michigan native and hockey aficionado Nate McLouth accurately forecast that the Penguins and Detroit would reach the Stanley Cup final, with his beloved Red Wings prevailing.

This year?

He takes Detroit again, but over the Boston Bruins.

"I'm a little worried about Chris Osgood," he said of the Red Wings' mostly struggling goaltender. "But the depth is there."

Nyjer Morgan, the only man in the clubhouse with hockey experience in having ascended to Canada's top junior tier as a grinding winger, takes San Jose over the Penguins. His choice of the Sharks should come as no surprise, as he is a San Francisco native.

"But I like the Penguins, too," he added. "Especially after they added Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz to get a little tougher. It can't just be Eric Godard out there."