PITTSBURGH — The task ahead for Pittsburgh Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage is quite basic, really.

Get some of the pitchers on the staff to delve into their past to take care of the Pirates’ future.

“I’m going to keep it simple,” Searage said. “These guys have the ability. The time for development, maturity and working on mechanics is over.

“It’s time to let these guys pitch. They’re expected to perform.”

Searage said the team is heading into spring training in three weeks with four spots in the starting rotation — Paul Maholm, Kevin Correia, Ross Ohlendorf and James McDonald— already set.

“Those guys would have to pitch themselves out of those spots, in spring training or beyond,” Searage said.

Maholm, 28, was 9-15 with a 5.10 earned run average last year. He posted a 3.71 ERA and pitched 206 innings in 2008.

Ohlendorf, 28, battled injuries early last season and was 1-11 with a 4.07 ERA. He won 11 games and had a 3.92 ERA in 2009.

Correia, 30, a free agent signee from San Diego, was 10-10 with a 5.40 ERA last year. He won 12 games and posted a 3.91 ERA in 198 innings pitched for the Padres in 2009.

McDonald, 26, once a prospect in the pitching-rich Los Angeles Dodgers system, was 4-5 with a 3.52 ERA in 64 innings for the Pirates in 2010.

All told, the Pirates’ team ERA of 5.00 was worst in the National League last season, a major contributor to the team’s major league worst 57-105 record.

Searage replaced Joe Kerrigan as pitching coach of the big league club in August. He spent the previous seven seasons coaching in the Pirates’ farm system.

“I’ve worked with a lot of these guys. I know them,” he said. “I know they can get it done and they know they’re accountable if they don’t.

“All of these guys have been around for a while. They know what’s expected.”

Searage knows what’s expected of himself as well.

“The job at hand is to make sure this pitching staff is competitive,” he said. “I’ve been where they are now. I’ve worn the spikes. I’ve run the wind sprints.

“We’re not busting our tails to be a third-place team. We want to win the division.”

The fifth starter will come from Scott Olsen, Jeff Karstens, Brad Lincoln or Charlie Morton.

Lincoln and Morton disappointed badly in auditions last year. Olsen, 26, a left-handed free agent signee from the Washington Nationals, was 4-8 with a 5.56 ERA in 2010. He pitched 201 innings while compiling an 8-11 record with the Florida Marlins two years earlier.

Karstens was 3-10 with a 4.92 ERA, striking out 72 and walking 27 in 122.2 innings pitched last season. He had been dropped off the Pirates’ 40-man roster prior to spring training last year.

“That guy had to fight his way back on and he did that,” Searage said. “Jeff Karstens is a jack of all trades. He’s the only one out of that group of contenders for the five-spot that can start, pitch long relief, middle relief, whatever.”

Karstens makes no secret about what he wants his role to be.

“I’ll do whatever they need, but I want that fifth spot,” he said. “We all do. Any pitcher wants to be as much help to his team as he can.

“If I’m a starter, I want to pitch 200 innings. That’s the benchmark these days and that’s my personal goal. If I hit it, I know I’m pitching well.”

The back end of the Pirate bullpen is set with Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan. The set-up and middle relief positions are wide open.

On Friday, the Pirates brought back left-hander Joe Beimel, who saw action with the Nationals and Colorado Rockies last year. Beimel signed a minor league deal with the Bucs and will be invited to spring training.

“The bullpen will work itself out during the spring,” Searage said. “We’ve got some shuffling to do. But the key is, we want to go to our bullpen when we want to, not because we have to.”

Right now, Searage is getting to know all of his pitchers as people.

“I don’t call them my pitchers, I call them my boys,” he said. “I have to be their coach, their friend, their disciplinarian.

“They are going to know who I am. There are no smoke screens here. I’m here to win.”

Karstens has no problem with that.

“Every player’s goal every year is to get to the World Series,” he said. “If that’s not your goal, you shouldn’t be wearing a uniform.”