Everybody wants to know what happened to the Pirates, how they went virtually overnight from a no-hit, no-field joke of a team to one that, at least for the moment, is playing some pretty sweet baseball.

Isn't it obvious?

I mean, how do you miss someone who is 6 feet 1, 200 pounds, wears No. 14 and stands tall and proud at second base?

Jose Castillo is what happened to the Pirates.

It wasn't just last night when Castillo was one of the stars in the 2-0 win against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park. His two-run double in the fifth inning provided all the offense pitcher Mark Redman needed in his four-hit gem. It has been like that throughout the Pirates' resurrection from the dead. He has fueled their stunning surge, now at eight wins in 11 games.

"I'm surprised more people aren't talking about it," Lloyd McClendon said. "The lift that kid has given us has been unbelievable."

Remember back to the dark days early in the season after Castillo swung at a pitch and went down in the second game with an oblique injury, whatever that is? People actually argued if Rob Mackowiak, Freddy Sanchez or Bobby Hill should play second base as if they were Bill Mazeroski, Joe Morgan and Ryne Sandberg. The Pirates got off to an 8-15 start in part because of those guys. As second basemen go, they're fine utility players. You don't win much with utility players.

Castillo is the real deal. There's nothing utility about him. He's all second baseman.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again. He has a chance to be a big-time player, a marquee player," McClendon said.

"We missed him when he wasn't in there. We missed his defense up the middle and we missed his power from the right side."

Castillo is that rarest of Pirates for a couple of reasons. He's one of their own, a product of their minor-league system which always seems to be loaded with great young talent in the low minors but never quite seems to spit it out on the major-league level. He's also from Venezuela, a slow drip from the team's Latin pipeline which used to gush freely in the days of super scout Howie Haak in the 1950s and '60s before all but drying up.

McClendon said Castillo already is "as good defensively as any second baseman in the league." That might be an exaggeration, but not by much. Did you see the plays Castillo made on the Pirates' season-turning trip to Houston, Phoenix and San Francisco? He made at least four in Arizona that deserved to be circled on the scorecard. He must have saved five runs to help the Pirates win three of four games.

Not bad for a kid who worked hard to improve his defense after committing 60 errors as a Class A shortstop in 2000.

Pretty good for a team whose defense was every bit as horrendous as its hitting.

Castillo has helped out there, too. In his first game back from the disabled list May 5, he went 3 for 4 with a triple, home run and two RBIs in a 6-2 win against Arizona. That was just the start. He has hit in eight of nine games since his return, including the past seven. His average during that stretch is .368. He has two home runs and seven RBIs and has scored seven runs.

It's enough to make you fantasize just a bit about what Castillo might do once he learns big-league pitchers and really learns how to hit. He's still a baby, really, playing in just his second season after making the jump from Class AA. He held his own as a rookie, hitting .256 with eight home runs and 39 RBIs, and should easily top those numbers this season if he stays healthy. Down the road, it might not be too much to ask for him to hit .280 or .290 with gap pop ... doubles, triples and maybe 20 or 25 home runs.

"I'm certainly not going to put any limits on the young man," McClendon said.

It's funny, the Pirates built their season's marketing campaign around National League Rookie of the Year Jason Bay, All-Star shortstop Jack Wilson and pitcher Oliver Perez, who struck out 11 batters every nine innings and -- it seems so silly now -- had some premature dreamers mentioning his name in the same sentence with Sandy Koufax and Steve Carlton.

Castillo could turn out to be better than any of 'em.