Riddle me this:

How can a team with the worst earned run average of any pitching staff in the major leagues use three successive first-round draft picks on pitchers, watch each miss a full season because of major arm surgery, have each bounce back — and not give any of them an extended look?

The Pirates are doing it. At least, they have so far.

• Sean Burnett, 25, was the team's first-round draft choice in 2000, went 5-5 as a big league starter in 2004 and hasn't started a major league game since.

• John Van Benschoten, 28, was the Pirates' first-round selection in 2001. He did start nine games in the majors in 2007, but those starts were scattered during the season. This year, he's had four starts with the big club, but only two back-to-back starts.

• Bryan Bullington, 27, was the team's first-round pick in 2002. He lost all three of his starts with the Pirates last year, was called up this year for 10 days, but was never used. When the Pirates placed him on waivers recently, the Cleveland Indians signed him.

Meanwhile, the Pirates' team ERAis well over 5.00 and has been a thorn in the club's side all year.

Go figure.

Granted, the selections of Burnett, Van Benschoten and Bullington were not made by the organization's new regime.

Come on. How can none of these guys get a long-term shot at starting, given the sorry state of this starting rotation?

The Pirates turned Burnett into a relief pitcher because they feared his surgically repaired left arm might not hold up to the rigors of starting.

Burnett has pitched in 28 games in relief for the Pirates this season as part of a badly overworked bullpen. Why not let the guy go back to starting?His arm is sound.

If he can do his share of work in this bullpen, he can log the innings as a starter.

True, Van Benschoten has the highest ERAof any pitcher in major-league history with at least 10 career starts. But the majority of his starts have come with a return to Indianapolis awaiting him if he failed.

Van Benschoten should be called into a closed-door meeting with manager John Russell and general manager Neal Huntington and be told he has 12 consecutive starts, no matter how he does.

Let him relax and pitch. Let's see what he's got.

Bullington is a true mystery. He was given three starts last year. That's it. He never started a game this year and now he's pitching for another organization.

What exactly happened there?

While Bullington's numbers weren't good at Class AAA, who cares?The pitchers in front of him have put up horrid numbers in Pittsburgh.

At some point, you'd think the Pirates would have taken a flyer on Bullington. What exactly did they have to lose?

Maybe Van Benschoten will pan out now. He's still walking people, but he is showing signs of improvement.

One out of three isn't good, in this case.

But it beats none out of three.

Handled differently, it might have been three out of three.