Rob Biertempfel's post on Pittsburgh Pirates | Latest updates on Sulia

#Pirates have a $3.1 million long reliever who rarely pitches anymore. Who is it and why isn't he starting? ...

Mgr Clint Hurdle decided to keep RHP Jeff Karstens (5-4, 3.86) in the bullpen next week for the series against the New York Mets. Rookies Kyle McPherson (0-1, 2.25) and Jeff Locke (0-2, 5.47) remain in the rotation are slated to pitch Monday and Wednesday, respectively. Karstens, who is making $3.1 million this season, has not started a game since Aug. 31, when he gave up 4 runs in 0.1 inning v. Brewers. Karstens left that game with a sore hip pointer. He tossed 3 innings out of pen Wednesday v. Brewers and allowed 1 run on 2 hits. It could be that, with Pirates out of the race, front office ordered Hurdle to give newbies a long look. It could be that mgmt is still honked at Karstens for taking the ball to start games when he wasn't 100 percent physically last month. Karstens has 1 yr of arby eligibility left and could be a non-tender candidate.