When the Pirates traded Nate McLouth to the Braves Wednesday, it finally opened a spot in the Pittsburgh outfield for top prospect Andrew McCutchen, who had a sparkling debut in the Steel City Thursday afternoon against the Mets (2-for-4, 3 runs, RBI, SB, BB). Spoke to one opposing scout this year who said that McCutchen was ready to be a major-league regular straight out of spring training. Baseball America on McCutchen:

“McCutchen has quick hands and recognizes pitches extremely well, giving him the ability to wait for the ball to get deeper in the zone while drawing his share of walks. He has outstanding speed that makes him a basestealing threat and a potential Gold Glover.“

Some Pirates players were understandably upset about the McLouth trade because it signified that the Pirates front office didn’t believe this particular group of players could compete for a playoff berth this season. Let’s be honest, though. Any team with a rotation that includes Ross Ohlendorf and Jeff Karstens is not going to be a true playoff contender, and the best players in the Pittsburgh organization (Pedro Alvarez, Brad Lincoln and Bryan Morris among them) are several years away from helping Pittsburgh win. There are still some that believed that McLouth was playing way over his head and that a correction was in order down the line. So we’ll see. It seems like the trade was a fair one, as the Pirates got a few of Atlanta’s top prospects, including LHP Jeff Locke, who has been added to the Hillcats reserve roster.

Locke was rated Atlanta’s No. 7 prospect by Baseball America before the season started. He struggled to a 5-12 mark with a 4.06 ERA last year at Low-A Rome, and the most glaring problem seemed to be control. In 2007 in Danville, he walked eight in 61 innings. In 2008 in Rome, he walked 38 in 140 innings, a significant jump. He’s 1-4 with a 5.52 ERA in 10 starts this season at Myrtle Beach, and the Hillcats knocked him around for 11 hits and four runs in five innings on May 7. Again, control is an issue. He’s walked 26 in 45 2/3 innings.

Baseball America writes that Locke’s best pitches are a 91-94 MPH fastball and a curveball that borders on being a plus pitch.

The other two players involved in the trade will start higher up in the organization. RHP Charlie Morton is on Triple-A Indianapolis’ active roster, and OF Gorkys Hernandez is listed on the minor-league reserve at Double-A Altoona. Once Hernandez is activated, Altoona will have five active outfielders. Jose Tabata, a key piece of last year’s Jason Bay trade, is still on the DL in Altoona.

As of now, Indianapolis has only two active outfielders—Jeff Salazar and Garrett Jones. So someone could be called up from Altoona or sent down from Pittsburgh to fill a spot. If that happens, there’s a decent chance that Hillcats OF Miles Durham could get the call to go to Altoona. Stay tuned.