Maybe it is fitting the fellows get to stick together, this draft class of 2009 commencing their professional baseball sojourn on a college campus.

After all, from the top, the parent Pirates have linked Neil Walker, Jose Tabata, Brad Lincoln and Pedro Alvarez as a core for the future, calling them up in three separate moves within three weeks’ time. So perhaps fans should keep an eye on bulges in the Pirates’ minor league pipeline, gluts of players who may continue to move upward: Rudy Owens and All-Star Bryan Morris in Class AA Altoona; surgically repaired Starling Marte and Tony Sanchez in Bradenton; and the State College six.