CHICAGO -- The term is "4-A player," and John Bowker clearly does not like it.

The "4-A," in the vernacular, describes the player who does very well at the Class AAA level, but nowhere near as well in the major leagues. Garrett Jones had the label for several years before finally breaking through last year. Steve Pearce still has it to an extent.

And Bowker will, too, unless he takes full advantage of the chance presented by his recall from Indianapolis Wednesday morning.

"Yeah, you hear that, and you don't want be labeled as a 4-A player," Bowker said. "I don't really pay attention to it. I'm just looking forward to my opportunity."

Bowker, 27, is a left-handed hitting outfielder and first baseman with a .302 career average in the minors, with 89 home runs over seven seasons, but a .238 average in the majors, with 15 home runs while spending parts of the past three seasons with San Francisco.

He was acquired in a July 31 trade with the Giants that also brought reliever Joe Martinez in exchange for reliever Javier Lopez, and he batted .319 with four home runs and 10 RBIs for Indianapolis.

"It's a new start for me," Bowker said. "I was with the Giants my whole career, and I was kind of inconsistent. I'm definitely looking forward to coming over here and showing what I can do."

What will be the key?

"I just need consistency. You could have success for a couple days, but the key is doing it all year."

One possibility, raised by general manager Neal Huntington at the time of the trade, is that Bowker's power -- which some of his new teammates rave about -- will translate better to PNC Park.

"San Francisco's a tough park for a hitter. It's cold, the ball doesn't carry well, and it's big in right field, especially for a pull guy like me," Bowker said. "I've played in Pittsburgh, and you can see it's good for a pull hitter, and the ball carries a little better, too."

Team president Frank Coonelly, in his monthly Web chat, took a question from a reader asking how it feels "to be president of the losingest team in baseball" and how he planned to change that.

Coonelly's reply: "Given that we have many young readers of this chat, I will keep my answer G-rated: It stinks. It's embarrassing, painful and incredibly aggravating. I never expected us to sit with just 44 wins on Sept. 1, 2010. We have more talent than that, and I expect us to play much better during this final month. While the losing has been painful from a personal perspective, what hurts the most is to see the pain and disappointment on the faces of our great fans who rightly expected much more from us. The losing is unacceptable and will change."

He added that the team will stick by its plan of building from within while reiterating "we will look to add to a talented core" for 2011, and that the Pirates "will continue to evaluate everything we do."

• Tyrone Brooks, Huntington's director of baseball operations, was seen in the clubhouse Wednesday after the game. According to the Pirates, he joined the team Tuesday night. No one from the front office was with the team on the first four days of the trip, a rarity in professional sports

• Reliever Evan Meek, with swelling subsiding in his bruised right hand, had a soft-tossing session Wednesday and said he expects to advance to try regular throwing Friday in Pittsburgh.

• Manager John Russell flipped his weekend starters, Paul Maholm now going Saturday and Charlie Morton Sunday. The reason given was that Maholm could stay on his regular rest. The only other meaningful difference in the two dates: Saturday is a SkyBlast event with a large crowd expected.

• Brad Lincoln returned to Indianapolis' rotation Wednesday -- two runs over two-plus innings and 37 pitches -- after missing two weeks to a stiff neck. If healthy, he is expected to be among the September recalls.

Colin Dunlap's blog on the Pirates is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.