Stats: The Pirates begin their final series before the All-Star break against NL Central rivals, the Chicago Cubs. While the Pirates have been playing competitive baseball throughout the past month and a half, the Cubs have been doing anything but. They have currently lost 5 of 6 and were swept in their last series by the Washington Nationals. Overall, the Cubs are 35-53 and in 5th place in the NL Central, a whopping 10 1/2 games behind the Pirates in the division.
Probable Pitchers:
James McDonald (5-4, 4.40 ERA) vs. Rodrigo Lopez (1-2, 3.91 ERA)
Matchup: James McDonald takes the hill against the Cubs and looks to continue his string of extremely successful starts. McDonald has not allowed more the 3 ER in a start since May 13 and in doing that has lowered his ERA from 6.20 to 4.40. The Cubs Rodrigo Lopez has been equally as effective as McDonald in his past few starts. In his most recent start, Lopez limited the White Sox to 2 hits and no runs over 7 innings. In his only start against the PIrates, Lopez went 6 innings giving up 1 run while striking out 5. Neither team has face the oppsing pitcher enough to get a good book on matchups but I would be willing to bet that McCutchen has a good game. I know it seems like every preview that I write has McCutchen projected to do well, but that is what happens when he is the best player on the team. To back up my prediction, McCutchen has reached base safetly in his past 18 games at PNC Park. I am also feeling a prodigiously long Garrett Jones home run. Maybe a shot that finds it's way out of the stadium. For the Cubs, former Pirate Aramis Ramirez has been en fuego, batting .308 with 5 HR and 9 RBI in the past week. Another player to watch for the Cubs is Carlos Pena. There has been some chatter lately that Pena may be available at the trade deadline and could possibly be had for cash considerations since the Cubs would like nothing more to get out from under his 10 million dollar contract. Pena is hitting a paltry .225 this year but has 19 HR and 48 RBI. Honestly, if the Pirates can get him for some low level prospects or even cash he would be a significant upgrade at 1st base, allowing the Pirates to field a proper lineup with speed at the top (Tabata, Presley, McCutchen) and power in the middle (Walker, Pena, Alvarez). Imagine a lineup that looks a little something like this...
RF Presley
LF Tabata
CF McCutchen
1B Pena
2B Walker
3B Alvarez
C Doumit
SS Cedeno
P Correia
Looks alot like a real lineup huh?
Prediction: Pirates win 7-2. Let's Go Bucs!
No comments:
Post a Comment