Karstens to rehab at Double-A again: Pirates pitcher Jeff Karstens, on the 15-day disabled list with a shoulder injury, will make his next rehab start for Double-A Altoona on Saturday. He pitched three scoreless innings for Altoona on Monday night in his first outing since being injured in mid-April. (Updated 05/22/2012)
Karstens looked pretty sharp in his rehab outing on Monday night, but will likely need a few more outings before he is ready to be activated off the DL. The right-hander should be able to jump right back in the rotation once he is healthy, so Fantasy owners should keep an eye on his status moving forward. Karstens yielding six runs over his first three starts (12 innings), making him of a NL-only option when healthy. (Updated 05/22/2012).
04/08/2012 00:40 Pirates take out Phils in 10 innings
Alex Presley singled home Mike McKenry with two outs in the bottom of the 10th to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night.
03/27/2012 22:31 Spring primer: Pittsburgh Pirates
Checking out the 2012 Pirates, in terms of lineup, rotation, bullpen, fantasy outlook and more.
Jeff Karstens enjoyed the best campaign of his career in 2011 and appears to have solidified himself as a starter in Pittsburgh. After starting the season in the bullpen, he joined the rotation on April 17 and never looked back. The right-hander posted a 3.82 ERA over his first seven starts and got better as the season went on to finish 9-9 with a 3.38 ERA in 30 appearances (26 starts). He also threw the second complete-game shutout of his career on July 15 against the Astros. Karstens has shown some solid improvement over the last three seasons and could be in for his best year yet in 2012. While his strikeout numbers are not that impressive, consider the 29-year-old a low-end Fantasy starting pitcher on Draft Day. (Updated 2/17/12)
Actual 
AccuScore Projections) Note: Points are rounded down.
= probable start