The toughest* part of the Cubs schedule is finally behind them but they shouldn’t take their foot of the gas. And while the Pirates overall are a step down from the Dodgers et al., they do still have this Paul Skenes guy, who outdueled Yamamoto in his last start. The Pirates are coming off a double LA road trip, where they lost a series to the actual LA team and won one against the team that merely claims to be.
Team Leaders
Fun with small sample size edition
Cubs
- OBP: Carson Kelly (.517)
- ISO: Kelly (.512)
- HR: Tucker (7)
- R+RBI: Tucker (50)
- wRC+: Kelly (259)
- BSR: PCA (2.8)
- Defense: PCA (6.4)
- SP K/9: Rea (11.48)
- SP BB/9: Taillon (1.87)
- SP ERA: Rea (1.35)
- SP FIP: Rea (1.18)
- RP K/9: Keller (11.91)
- RP BB/9: Palencia (3.52)
- RP ERA: Pressly (2.25)
- RP FIP: Keller (2.26)
- Hitter WAR: PCA (2.0)
- Pitcher WAR: Rea (0.7)
Pirates
- OBP: Joey Bart (.370)
- ISO: Oneil Cruz (.290)
- HR: Cruz (8)
- R+RBI: Cruz (33)
- wRC+: Cruz (145)
- BSR: Cruz (1.4)
- Defense: Ke’Bryan Hayes (5.5)
- SP K/9: Skenes (9.32)
- SP BB/9: Skenes (0.96)
- SP ERA: Andrew Heaney (1.72)
- SP FIP: Skenes (1.72)
- RP K/9: David Bednar (14.40)
- RP BB/9: Tim Mayza (0.96)
- RP ERA: Justin Lawrence (0.79)
- RP FIP: Ryan Borucki (2.21)
- Hitter WAR: Cruz (0.9)
- Pitcher WAR: Skenes (1.6)
I’ve said that Connor Joe might be the most Pirates player of all time, but Joey Bart actually sounds like he could have been a pirate captain back in the Golden Age of Piracy.
Who isn’t available
Javier Assad re-aggravated his oblique strain last week, and is going to have to rehab and start from scratch, bleh. Tyson Miller has pitched in three games in Iowa as he rehabs a spring training injury, and might need to return soon or be released due to roster rules. Ryan Brasier has started throwing off a mound and could be back next month.
Fellow top starter Jared Jones is shut down with an elbow injury suffered in spring training. Tests showed that he didn’t need surgery but it looks like he’ll miss about half the season even if there are no further setbacks. Reliever Justin Lawrence hit the IL last week with elbow discomfort, and is getting the dreaded Second Opinion. Fellow RP Tim Mayza is shut down for the next 6 weeks with a shoulder sprain. First baseman Spencer Horwitz, who the Pirates picked up from Toronto in a three-team trade, is rehabbing a wrist injury suffered in February and could be up to the big league team in the next week or so. Catcher Endy Rodriguez is on the IL after taking a weirdly bounced Skenes curveball off his hand, and is TBD to return
Pitching Matchups
Projected K/9, BB/9, ERA listed for each pitcher
Tuesday: Shota Imanaga, LHP (8.95, 2.28, 3.85) vs Andrew Heaney, LHP (8.40, 2.83, 4.48), 5:40 PM CT
Heany is a well-traveled, occasionally cromulent mid-30s pitcher. In other word, exactly the kind of guy that the Bob Nutting Pirates loves to sign. He’s done surprisingly well this year, and is coming off a six inning, one-hit, nine-strikeout blanking of the Angles.
Wednesday: Matthew Boyd, LHP (8.87, 2.93, 3.91) vs Carmen Mlodzinski, RHP (7.48, 3.39, 3.98), 5:40 PM CT
Mlodzinski is mostly projected as a reliever, so you can adjust those numbers up a bit. Or don’t. I can’t tell you how to role-shift projections. he hasn’t gone longer than five innings in any start, seems like he’ll mostly just be a two turns through the rotation and done guy.
Thursday: Colin Rea, RHP (7.20, 2.39, 4.27) vs Paul Skenes, RHP (10.36, 2.37, 3.15), 11:35 AM CT
Skenes is great, there’s not much more to say. He’s not invincible, as he’s been touched up by the Cardinals, but he’s coming off 6.1 innings against the Dodgers with nine K’s, no walks, and no runs. It will be fun to see him match up with Kyle Tucker, as both guys have legitimate claim to be the most boring superstars in baseball. There can be only one!
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