The Pittsburgh Pirates face old friend Jeff Banister and the Texas Rangers to kick off a seven game road trip. Here are the matchups to watch.
The long ten game homestand for the Pittsburgh Pirates is officially over and I’m sure Pirates fans are sad to see it go. In that ten game span, the Pirates went 8-2 against the Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park. The Pirates (27-19) also gained ground in the National League Central race, trailing the Chicago Cubs for first place by 4.5 games. They also were able to distance themselves from the third place St Louis Cardinals, leading them by four games in the division.
As rewarding as their last ten games have been, the Pirates find themselves up against a huge test in their next series, a three game interleague set against the Texas Rangers (27-20) in Arlington. The Pirates will go up against former bench coach Jeff Banister and his team, who sits in second place in the American League West division. The Pirates do not get to play against the Rangers very often, but this series is bound to include some rare matchups that you’ll want to keep an eye on.
3.) Andrew McCutchen vs Cole Hamels
In the series opener tonight, Cole Hamels takes the mound for the Texas Rangers against Jon Niese. Hamels, who has some experience against the Pirates from his time with the Philadelphia Phillies, is 3-2 with a 2.43 ERA in nine career starts against Pittsburgh. Aside from his career success against the Pirates, Hamels has also had an exceptional start to the 2016 season, posting a 5-0 record with a 2.83 ERA in nine starts this year.
One Pirates player who is familiar with Hamels is center fielder Andrew McCutchen, who has historically hit pretty well against the Rangers lefty. In fact, in his career against Hamels, McCutchen is 7-for-24 (.292) with one double, one home run, six RBI’s, one walk and two strikeouts.
Despite McCutchen’s slow start to the season and his high strikeout rate, which doesn’t seem like it’s going down anytime soon, this is still an intriguing matchup between two stars in the game of baseball. Hamels has yet to be phased in 2016, but McCutchen may prove once again that he owns the undefeated southpaw.
2.) John Jaso vs Yu Darvish
Tomorrow night, Yu Darvish makes his highly anticipated season debut against the Pirates in Arlington. Darvish, who will be making his first start since Aug. 8, 2014, is coming back from Tommy John Surgery and will likely be looking to return to his all-star form.
Darvish has only made one career start against the Pirates, a loss in which he went seven innings, giving up one earned run on four hits while walking one and striking out six.
If there is anyone in the Pirates everyday lineup who knows how to have success against Darvish, it is first baseman John Jaso. Jaso, who has spent a majority of his major league career playing in the American League, is 9-for-22 (.409) with two doubles, two home runs, three RBI’s, two walks and eight strikeouts against Darvish in his career.
The strikeout rate against the Rangers right hander is a bit of a concern, but you can’t argue with the fact that Jaso knows how to hit off of Darvish and that he has proven that he can hit for power. This matchup could serve as an underrated one to watch for, but it will definitely be one that will garner a ton of attention.
1.) Jung Ho Kang vs Yu Darvish
For the first time ever, I have picked the same pitcher for two of my matchups. I’m going with Darvish once again for this final battle, but there really aren’t any statistics to back up why this makes the list of matchups to watch. To be honest, I just picked it because this is a matchup that I personally think could be exciting to watch.
While Darvish is making his season debut, he will likely be facing a lot of the Pirates players for the very first time. One player in particular that he will be facing for the first time is Pirates third baseman Jung Ho Kang.
Kang, who has never faced the Rangers in his career, gets the opportunity to go up against the hard throwing japanese right hander in a matchup that could go either way. Both players are going to be ready for the matchup, studying tape and figuring out each others weaknesses and this will make the battle even more exciting to watch.
We all know that Kang is one of the best hitters in the Pirates lineup, so it will be interesting to see how Darvish pitches to him and to see who comes out on top in this very intriguing matchup.
Featured Image Credit – Daniel Decker Photography
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