The Pirates have the most productive outfielders in baseball.

They also have the least productive infield in baseball, but let's just talk about the guys who spend half their workday roaming the grass. Like the children of Lake Wobegon, Jason Bay, Nate McLouth and Xavier Nady are all above average.

After 50 games, Pirates outfielders have been to the plate 687 times excluding pinch-hit appearances. That's about what a healthy regular would have in a full season, and Pirates outfielders have hit .303 with 31 home runs and 104 RBIs. Throw in 38 doubles, 4 triples, 79 walks and 110 runs scored and you have one great composite outfielder, with an on-base average of .393 and a slugging average of .539.

According to baseball-reference.com, where those stats were gathered, Pirates outfielders have hit 43 percent better than the average National League outfielder.

A case could be made for Nady or Bay on the All-Star team, but the most deserving choice by far would be McLouth, the best-hitting center fielder in baseball.

Going into last night's game in Cincinnati, McLouth was hitting .323 with a .408 on-base average and .621 slugging average. That was best at his position in the latter two categories, both in the National and American leagues.

Among all NL players, McLouth was 10th in OBA, sixth in SLG, fourth in times on base (93), second in runs (43), fifth in hits (64), fourth in total bases (123), fourth in doubles (17), seventh in triples (3), tied with Bay and others for 10th in home runs (12), tied with Nady for fifth in RBIs (39) and third in extra-base hits (32).

Half of McLouth's hits have been for extra bases. Not bad for a 5-foot-11 guy who had been pegged for a fourth outfielder his entire career -- but it's not as if this has come from nowhere.

McLouth slugged .502 with a .366 OBA in 217 at-bats after the All-Star break last year. And between Aug. 1, 2007 and the day before yesterday, McLouth has hit .305/.400/.583 with 22 home runs in 367 at-bats. That slugging average (total bases divided by at-bats) is sixth best in baseball among players with at least 425 plate appearances since August, ahead of such sluggers as Albert Pujols, Pat Burrell, Prince Fielder, Derrek Lee, Vladimir Guerrero and Ryan Howard.

McLouth also has 21 stolen bases in 25 attempts in that time. He's a slam-dunk All-Star.

Bay and Nady aren't too shabby, either. McLouth is second, Bay fourth and Nady ninth among NL outfielders in OPS (OBA Plus SLG.)

Bay, batting .290, is tied for 10th in home runs (12), is fifth in walks (36), ninth in times on base (88), seventh in OBA (.411) and 10th in most home runs per AB (a HR every 14.7 AB).

Nady is hitting .317 and is tied for fifth in the league in RBIs with 39.

Despite all that production, the Pirates are below .500 because the starting pitchers have been lousy, the overall fielding has been worse and the infielders have brought matchsticks to the plate. Because of those holes, Bay or Nady or both could be traded for prospects before the summer is over.

For now, though, there are three things very right about the Pirates' outfield.