Pirates to promote Andrew Lambo; agree to sign Kelly Shoppach

The Pirates have announced that Andrew Lambo will be promoted for the upcoming series against the Cardinals.

Obviously, this has a chance of going poorly, but we can't be too cautious here. Jose Tabata, Alex Presley and Josh Harrison aren't long-term answers in right field, and Lambo appears to have by far the best chance of anyone in the organization of providing immediate help.

Lambo's reemergence as a prospect has been fortuitous, both for him and for the Bucs. The Pirates badly need a right fielder, and Lambo, who looked like a non-prospect as recently as four months ago, has 31 home runs this year as a 24-year-old splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A. He has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of around 3:1 this season, which is a small concern. But I'm excited, and I hope the Pirates plan on playing Lambo whenever a righty starts, at the very least.

To clear space for Lambo, the Pirates might option Presley back to Indianapolis. But we'll see.

UPDATE (by WTM):  The Pirates also have agreed to sign catcher Kelly Shoppach.  They had said earlier, when Mike McKenry got hurt, that they'd look for a third catcher with major league experience.  Shoppach will probably be called up in September.