The RumBunter Podcast  welcomes Kyle McPherson, Tony Sanchez, and General Manager Neal Huntington to the show.

You can download the podcast here.

Listen as our favorite double black belt, Kyle McPherson talks about pitching to a boyhood idol during his recent time in the majors.

You don’t want to miss the self declared #FanFavorite, Tony Sanchez, discuss his rise to the Triple-A level in 2012.  (He makes us laugh out loud repeatedly during the interview and even sticks around to speak with McPherson after he says he could kick his ass.)

Neal Huntington answers the question we pose about A.J. Burnett being the lone man to jump the railing during the Brandon Phillips and Jared Hughes confrontation.   The Bucs GM also discusses what the team was doing to prepare to turn around the losses that were piling up for the Buccos.  Huntington talks about just how much extra work the Bucs are doing in advance to determine how teams will attack them down the stretch.

A big shoutout to MVP Adam who puts it all together each week.  You might have noticed the host with the most Cocktailsfor2 and Adam pimping at Wrigley Field last weekend after the podcast was recorded.

Cocktails was the fistbumper and we can’t help but ask, did the magic bump contribute to the recent power surge of  Clint Barmes?  Think about it…did Clint Barmes find his superpower from the host with the most?  We think it certainly helped.

The Pittsburgh Pirates announced they have optioned Justin Wilson and Kyle McPherson to Triple-A Indianapolis.    Right hander Daniel McCutchen was brought up from Indy, and right hander Chad Qualls was reinstated from the bereavement list.

McCutchen has had a solid season in Triple-A.  The biggest memory McCutchen has left on fans would definitely be his impressive performance in the 19-inning marathon last season against the Atlanta Braves.  But Danimal wasn’t the same after that game.  He has spent most of the 2012 in Triple-A  Indianapolis and he has some nice numbers, especially recently.

The Qualls move begs to tell us that somehow the Pirates see something that most of the people on planet Earth don’t see, and thus can’t believe.  So, for the Pirates sake, let’s hope there is life on Mars, after all.

Both Wlison and McPherson were impressive in their major league debuts last night. It’s hard to imagine two more eye-opening moves than to see two rookies get five strikeouts over three innings.  It will be difficult to get either of them back to the big leagues before ten days after this move.  It’s just hard to imagine the reasoning, other than wanting to keep them as starters, but certainly the Bucs feel that the rookies can get it done, right?

And to think – neither of them slept well, they flew across the country, pitched great and then get told “See ya”?

We commended the Bucs on doing the right thing yesterday, less than 24 hours later, moves like this happen.

Some fans are jumping off the Zoltanic

Want to know what I don’t want to happen today?  The phrase that has been used so much recently.

If the season ended today, the Pittsburgh Pirates would be in the playoffs.

We think it’s a really dumb comment.  The season doesn’t end today, but we get it.  As much as we think it’s dumb to say, we understand it.  Actually, we don’t want it to go away.

But it seems like the Pirates need a fresh face or two.  New blood will be coming, it’s only a matter of when.

So until then we dug up some video on some players that might help.  Here is what we came up with you guys.

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Chris Leroux is dominating in Triple-A.  The right hander let the Pittsburgh Pirates know he wanted to be a starter again after clearing waivers this summer.  Damn.  It’s a great thing he did.  The guy is tearing it up.

Jeff Clement rips a thing of beauty below.  But you know what, Clement is hitting .176 in the past ten games.  A call-up for the first baseman doesn’t seem evident at this time. Clement’s comeback is a great story, his bat coming off the Pirates bench would surely help, maybe just not right now.

Justin Wilson has serious heat, but just look at this filth.  He obviously wants to be a starter, he responded with a no-no when the Bucs let him know he was going to the bullpen.  We admire that, but wonder if having Wilson in the bullpen would really help.   We could see him coming up and being Hurdle’s last option out of the pen.  So, really the help might be minimal.

Kyle McPherson is enjoying his promotion to AAA.  He has made two starts with impressive results.  McPherson is a guy that would soak in a September promotion.  We trust it happens, we are big fans of the right hander.  He is also a double black belt, which is cool….real cool.

Jose Tabata is having a nice August.  If Snider is hurt yet again, Tabata needs to be brought up.  It might be the easiest of these decisions.

Yamaico Navarro could replace Josh Harrison.  That would be a good thing, a really good thing. Navarro has eight homers and a solid OPS in AAA, although Brock Holt has been the shortstop, Navarro could play short to spell Barmes against the fly ball heavy Pirates starters. We think he would be a better option off the bench, not ideal, but better.  Harrison might be the top hitter of the bench, I think he’s around .230, the rest of the bench is actually hitting for a worse average as hard is that to believe.  The bench needs help.

Tony Sanchez is the wildcard.  Strong defense, good-not great arm.  It definently is interesting to think about, especially with the power strokes, maybe September is the time. He has an .822 OPS in his past ten games.