8 Pittsburgh Pirates Who Need to Step Up This Summer

The Pittsburgh Pirates have defied expectations this season, sitting at 37-32 after Friday night's victory over the Detroit Tigers. Following a 2011 season where they were in contention through July, the Bucs are starting to get a reputation for keeping things interesting.

While many are expecting the Pirates to regress, what's remarkable about their start to the season is that the Pirates are succeeding despite a roster with several gaping holes and under-performing areas. In many ways, this is a team with substantial room for improvement.

The following PIrates can lift this team up another notch by either raising their level of performance, embracing a bigger role or simply playing closer to expectations.

1. Pedro Alvarez

The poster boy for the Pirates' offensive struggles, Alvarez has actually put together a decent statistical year. Aside from Andrew McCutchen, he is the only Pittsburgh regular to have peripheral stats that are above league-average at this point at the season.

Yet Alvarez' extreme inconsistency—nearly all of his offensive production for the entire season has come during two short, blistering streaks—is holding him back from becoming the true cleanup hitter the Pirates need. Alvarez is still striking out in over 30% of his at-bats this season, and he often looks lost at the plate for weeks at a time.

Pedro Alvarez is not the cause of the Pirates' early-season offensive woes. In fact, only McCutchen is definitively having a better year at the plate. Yet Alvarez may have the greatest potential for improvement of any Pirate over the coming months.

2. Jose Tabata

The case of Jose Tabata is less nuanced. Coming off two consecutive seasons in which he was above league-average at the plate, Tabata and his .619 OPS are currently below replacement level for outfielders.

Tabata has further infuriated fans with stretches of lackadaisical play both in the field and on the basepaths. Teammates and coaches insist that the effort and desire is there, but the results unquestionably have not been there for the outfielder, who is no longer an everyday staple in Clint Hurdle's lineup.

Tabata remains a young player with a shot at a bright future, and past results indicate that the talent is clearly there. The Pirates need him to rediscover his game this summer.

3. Josh Harrison

The free-swinging utility man actually has the second-highest wRC+ on the Pirates, behind McCutchen and ahead of Alvarez. So performance is not his primary concern right now.

The primary concern for Harrison is playing time. For whatever reason, Hurdle seems wedded to Clint Barmes and his .527 OPS at the starting shortstop position. Harrison needs to claim the position with his play and hold onto it, whether that's through improving his approach at the plate (4.3% walk rate so far this season) or his defense.

The Pirates have a gaping hole at shortstop and Harrison is the solution. He needs to force Bucs' management to stand up and take notice.

4. Matt Hague

The Pirates' strong offensive June has benefited from big performances from first basemen Garrett Jones and Casey McGehee (with Jones seeing a lot of time in right field lately). But, with Jones sporting career-worst strikeout and walk rates, and McGehee performing very poorly in April and May, it is unlikely that both will sustain their current levels of play.

At that point, the Pirates will once again be looking for a solution to their first base problem. Enter Hague. The rookie has hit well below expectations this year, but he still has the tools to be a league-average first baseman with strong contact skills.

If Hague can play up to his true talent in the second half of the year, the Pirates will not have to depend on streaky veterans to fill a position that is supposed to be an offensive strength.

5. Erik Bedard

It's hard to poke too many holes in the 2012 Pirates' pitching staff, and Bedard hasn't been particularly lucky this year (.316 BABIP). But the Bucs were still likely expecting a little more from a healthy Bedard this season. The lefty's ground ball rate nearly sits at career lows, and he is averaging just over five innings pitched per start.

Given the Pirates' current struggles at the No. 4 and 5 starter slots, Bedard returning to peak form would be a huge boost for the entire pitching staff. He's certainly capable of such a turnaround.

6. Kevin Correia

Correia's struggles this season have been well-documented, so I won't pile on any more than I already have. The reason he makes this list, however, is it that he can pitch significantly better than this.

Correia's peripherals are the worst of his career, by a somewhat substantial margin. If he can return his xFIP to the low fours, as it had been from 2009-2011, Correia can help the Pirates as a serviceable No. 5 starter. It's rarely pretty, but he forces a lot of ground balls and contributes as an innings eater.

It doesn't seem like Correia is leaving the Pirates' rotation any time soon, so he needs to return to the form that made the Bucs sign him in the first place.

7. Joel Hanrahan

Lost in the Pittsburgh bullpen's stellar start to the season is the fact that Hanrahan has been extremely lucky so far in 2012. His counting stats (18 saves, 2.33 ERA) remain strong, but they are buoyed by a BABIP under .200. Hanrahan's FIP actually sits above 4.00 this year.

The main problem for Hanrahan has been control, as he has walked a batter nearly every other inning. Friday's performance against Detroit, where he got ahead of hitters with fastballs and finished them off with sliders, looked much more like the Joel Hanrahan of 2012. The Pirates need Hanrahan to rediscover that dominance before his luck catches up with him.

8. Neal Huntington

The 2012 Pirates have a lot of holes, particularly on offense. While there is plenty of internal room for improvement, it's extremely unlikely that all the internal solutions will pan out.

GM Neal Huntington has already been looking to add pieces to this team, and the Bucs' eventual success may depend upon whether he finds what he's looking for. The Pirates have a growing stable of second and third-tier prospects that should enable them to acquire a few useful parts without denting the farm system.

Huntington proved in 2011 that he was capable of adding short-term help without hampering the franchise's long-term future. It's up to him to repeat that feat in 2012.