The Pirates kick off a series with the Cincinnati Reds Friday night at 7:15, and they'll have a slightly different roster when they do. The Pirates have added lefty reliever Joe Beimel to the 25-man roster, as Beimel is now through rehabbing his arm injury, and have designated fellow lefty reliever Garrett Olson to make room for him, which means that Olson is unlikely to pitch for them again unless no other team wants him. Olson pitched respectively in a couple of outings for the Pirates this year, but he himself was just acquired on waivers a few weeks back and wasn't a particularly valuable commodity, and the Pirates had no pressing need for a second lefty in the bullpen.
Charlie Morton starts tonight for the Pirates, and he'll attempt to build on a decent start to his 2011 season, hopefully without some of the problems with walks that were the only real problems with his first two starts. The opposing pitcher will be Bronson Arroyo, who has pitched very well so far this year, with 11 strikeouts and no walks in 13 innings. With the way the Pirates' offense has been going recently, there's no reason not to expect him to continue that trend Friday night.