It was bad enough when Pirates catcher Chris Snyder was placed on the disabled list with a recurrence of back tightness. That meant that, for at least the next two weeks, the Pirates would be down to their third- and fourth-string catchers. But now things have only gotten worse. Rob Biertempfel, on Snyder's situation:

pirates c chris snyder will have back surgery tomorrow. Rest of season is in limbo.

So Snyder's having an operation that may end his 2011 season, and while it also may not, it's clear he won't be coming back any time soon. Back injuries are kind of big deals.

So, barring a move, the Pirates will have to survive with the Dusty Brown/Wyatt Toregas tandem for longer than they would've liked. Ryan Doumit is on track to return from an ankle injury sometime near the middle or end of July, but that's still more than a month away.