Doug Mientkiewicz has been activated from the bereavement list; Steve Pearce has been sent to Indianapolis to make room for him, because having three backup infielders, or three thirty-something bench players, is that much more important than giving a young player a shot, I guess.
The Pirates have an open corner outfield spot but have apparently chosen to give it to Jason Michaels, at least for the time being. Michaels is 32 and is a fourth outfielder through and through, and anyone who can read stat lines knows this. Pearce has received only 58 at bats, and while he's looked bad at times, there's no better time than the present to find out what he can do, and 58 at bats isn't nearly enough to do so. This disappoints me.