This morning, the Pirates optioned Tom Gorzelanny to AAA Indianapolis.  It is surprising, perhaps especially to Gorzelanny himself. 

To me, this begins to enforce a new emphasis on throwing strikes.  It has been preached for years, by the previous regime and the new one alike, but now Gorzelanny is paying the price for not pitching over the plate.  While Paul Maholm was efficient enough to go over his scheduled four innings in his last start, Gorzo only managed to pitch three innings his last time out; he is simply throwing too many pitches.  Not only has he walked five batters in nine innings this spring, he's also beaned two guys and given up eight hits.

UPDATE by Charlie: Jose Tabata was also sent to the minors. He'll report to Altoona. This is a reasonably conservative assignment given the way he hit there after joining the Pirates organization last summer, but it's probably the right move. A good month or two will probably earn him a promotion to Indianapolis.

As for the Gorzelanny move, it now appears that Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens and Virgil Vasquez are the remaining candidates for the last two rotation jobs, with Paul Maholm, Ian Snell and Zach Duke as the front three. I'm not sure any of Ohlendorf, Karstens or Vasquez are great bets to have success this year, but I'd take Ohlendorf and Karstens if it were my choice. Vasquez is a nice guy to have around, but he has little upside as a starter, and his home runs allowed would probably be completely out of control in the majors.