Pitching is the name of the game as June's First-Year Player Draft approaches.

In 2011, the first four picks were pitchers and seven-straight were taken after Matt Bush went No. 1 overall in 2004. Jim Callis writes that this year could set a new record for pitchers drafted in the first round. The current standard is 20, which came in 2001.

"There could be eight or nine pitchers taken in the top 10," a scouting director with an American League team said. "How many can go in the top 15? Twelve? Thirteen? There are so many arms. This is a deeper pool of players than last year, especially with pitchers."

The consensus top four prospects in the Draft, to be held June 5-7, are all pitchers.

Many are wondering why the Pittsburgh Pirates have not promoted top prospect Gregory Polanco to the Major Leagues yet.

The club insists that potential Super Two status "is not a driving factor" when deciding on whether or not to call a player up.

"He's continuing to refine some of the intricacies of his game," Neal Huntington said when asked why Polanco isn't playing for the Pirates.

"Somebody asked the other day for a detailed list of what he's working on. When Andrew (McCutchen) was coming up, I gave a detailed list as to what he was working on, then watched Major League teams attack those weaknesses I'd identified in spring training. So, I'm not going to give you a detailed script that opposing teams can attack when Gregory gets here."

Polanco is hitting .400/.460/.644 for Triple-A Indianapolis.

The Pirates placed catcher Russell Martin on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring and were successful in a second attempt at putting closer Jason Grilli on the DL with a left oblique strain, according to an ESPN.com report on Saturday.

Four players have been suspended for their roles in Sunday afternoon's brawl between the Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Carlos Gomez, who helped start the incident by exchanging heated words with Gerrit Cole, was suspended three games.

Martin Maldonado, who punched Pittsburgh's Travis Snider, received a five-game suspension.

Snider was suspended two games, and Russell Martin was suspended one game.

After speaking with his parents, Carlos Gomez expressed some regret for Sunday afternoon's brawl between the Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Gomez told his parents "I don't mean to do that, but things happen and they don't mean to do that, but things happen in the game.

"We know it's not good for baseball," he recalled telling his parents. "But when you have 50 men outside, something can happen."

Gomez, who was suspended last year after a similar brawl with the Atlanta Braves, repeatedly said he was ready to put the incident in the past.

"People say the worst stuff about things I've been doing for a long time," he said. "It's not like disrespect. It's not like I show people up. I don't get sensitive when they strike me out. I don't say, 'Hey, why you throw me 98? Why you throw me a slider in the dirt? Why you throw me a fastball in the neck?' This is baseball."

The aftermath of Sunday's brawl between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers isn't over.

Russell Martin has challenged Brewers reserve catcher Martin Maldonado to a charity fight in the offseason.

"If (Maldonado) wants to have a fight for charity in the offseason. My contract comes up. … I’d be completely willing to do that," Martin said Monday.

The Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates brawled on the field in Sunday afternoon's game at PNC Park.

Hitting against Gerrit Cole with two outs in the third inning, Carlos Gomez hit a drive to center field and momentarily watched the ball fly. He tossed his bat and started running to first base, first slowly and then more rapidly when it became clear that Andrew McCutchen wouldn't make the catch at the wall.

McCutchen briefly stumbled, allowing Gomez to get all the way to third base. Cole was in the vicinity to retrieve the baseball from third baseman Josh Harrison, and scolded Gomez for not immediately running out of the batter's box.

Gomez said Cole used an expletive. Cole said he did not.

Gomez immediately popped up and took a few deliberate steps toward Cole, kicking off the brawl.

"I heard something I don't like," Gomez said. "I don't think he's the one who tells me what I have to do. I don't tell him what he needs to do to pitch."

Cole countered.

"I grabbed the ball from Harrison and I said, 'If you're going to hit a home run, you can watch it. If you're going to hit a fly ball to center field, don't watch it.' I didn't curse at him, I didn't try to provoke a fight. I was frustrated, and I let my emotions get the better of me and I ended up getting one of my teammates hurt, so I'm not too thrilled about it."

The Mets traded first baseman Ike Davis to the Pirates on Friday, in exchange for right-handed reliever Zack Thornton and a player to be named later, according to an ESPN.com report.

Neil Walker, who hit .225 without a home run right-handed last season, worked on his swing during the offseason.

Instead of retiring from switch-hitting, Walker raised his hands to more closely resemble the starting point of his left-handed swing, shortening his path.

Walker also focused on starting the swing earlier, while taking hundreds of extra swings to create muscle memory.

"I've worked on so many different things mechanically over the last several years but the only thing that I worked on this offseason was getting my hands into a little bit better hitting position, similar to my left-handed swing," Walker said. "That was my focus. I wanted both my sides to be somewhat similar. It makes maintenance easier, understanding what my body is doing, what is going on if things go haywire."

It's a small sample size, but Walker entered Wednesday's action hitting .375 right-handed.

Jose Tabata was helped off the field on Wednesday after he slammed into the outfield wall while making a catch in the fifth inning.

The Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder caught up with Brayan Pena's fly ball just in front of the wall and turned at the last moment, hitting the wall hard with his left side.

A trainer examined his neck, jaw and head. The Pirates said he appeared to have a mild concussion.