The Pittsburgh Pirates are currently riding high. The Bucs are fresh off of a four game series sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Now comes the tougher test as the Bucs get set to take on the first place Chicago Cubs in a three game series at Wrigley Field.
The Pittsburgh Pirates (67-61) took advantage of the four game set with the Brewers as it was really a make or break series. Think about it, if they lose that series, it puts them in an even more crucial series against Chicago with a deep deficit in the wild card race. However, that is not the case.
The Bucs took care of business and now sit a half a game behind the St Louis Cardinals for the second wild card spot. They also only sit 2.5 games behind the San Francisco Giants for the first wild card spot.
The Chicago Cubs (82-47) have simply dominated everyone in their path this season. Despite some struggles midway through the year, the Cubs have been the most consistent team in baseball. They were the first team to 80 wins, but have lost two games in a row and are 6-4 in their last 10 contests.
With the Cubs being a high power team both on offense and with pitching, there are plenty of matchups to watch as the Pirates attempt to take them down. Here are our three matchups to watch:
3.) Steven Brault vs Jake Arrieta
With Gerrit Cole traveling to Los Angeles to get a second opinion on his elbow issue, the Pirates will send Steven Brault to the mound against the Cubs in game one tonight at Wrigley.
Neal Huntington confirmed Gerrit Cole will get elbow checked out. Will miss “at least” one start. Steven Brault to start Monday.
— Stephen J. Nesbitt (@stephenjnesbitt) August 28, 2016
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Brault has the tough task of facing off against the Cubs young and talented lineup for the very first time, but he is also tasked with going head to head with reigning Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta.
Brault will be making his first career start against the Cubs and his third MLB start overall. It won’t be easy for the young lefty as the Cubs arguably have one of the best young lineups in all of baseball. Brault will likely need to get ground ball outs and have good command as walks will hurt any pitcher facing the Cubs young offense.
The 24-year old is a guy who throws a ton of pitches and has had trouble with pitch counts in his two MLB starts. He threw 82 pitches in four innings in his first start on July 5 and followed that with 106 pitches in six innings in his second start on July 29.
It will be key for him to pitch deep into the ball game that way the bullpen can take over and attempt to shut the Cubs offense down late in the game.
On the other hand, Jake Arrieta has simply been flawless against the Pirates in his career. The hard throwing right hander, who has faced the Pirates more than any other team in baseball, is 9-2 with a 1.99 ERA and 0.85 WHIP in 13 career starts against the Bucs. He is 3-1 against the Pirates this season.
Arrieta has had a ton of success against guys in the Pirates lineup not named Andrew McCutchen and Matt Joyce. The two outfielders are both hitting above the .300 mark in their careers against Arrieta. However, another guy to watch out for will be Josh Bell.
The switch hitting first baseman should be in the lineup tonight and could make a big impact. Arrieta hasn’t seen Bell much, but the young 24-year old has one hit in his lone at-bat against the Cubs ace this season.
It will be interesting to see how Brault does in his first start against Chicago and if Arrieta can continue his dominance against the Pirates lineup. This will be one pitching matchup that Pirates and Cubs fans will not want to miss.
2.) Ryan Vogelsong vs Anthony Rizzo
To start out the 2016 season, Ryan Vogelsong was primarily sitting in the Pirates bullpen just waiting for his name to be called.
The 39-year old appeared in 12 games in the first two months of the season, starting only two of them and coming out of the bullpen for 10 appearances.
In his second of two starts in the opening two months, Vogelsong suffered facial fractures after being hit in the face while hitting. He was on the disabled list for a long period of time, but he is back and it seems like he’s better than ever.
The veteran, who is in his second stint with the Pirates, is 2-2 with a 2.48 ERA in five starts since coming back and has held hitters to a .210 batting average.
You can add me to the list of people Vogelsong has silenced in the past month as he has unexpectedly been lights out as a starter. He has silenced other doubters as well, even ones that criticized the Pirates for signing him in March.
Why the hell did the Pirates sign Ryan Vogelsong. They’re about five years too late on him.
— Jeffrey McLargeHuge (@jrgsstuff) March 26, 2016
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Been absolutely dead wrong about Ryan Vogelsong. Dude has been nails since he made it back.
— Chris Mueller (@ChrisMuellerPGH) August 27, 2016
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Despite the recent success, Vogelsong faces a tough test on Wednesday night.
Vogelsong, who is 5-7 with a less than stellar 5.60 ERA in 20 career appearances (12 starts) against the Cubs, gets set to make his first start against them this season.
He has had a good amount of experience against some of the guys on the Cubs roster, two in particular being Jason Heyward and Miguel Montero.
In his career against Vogelsong, Heyward is 5-for-14 (.357) with one home run, one RBI, and three walks. Montero has also had success against the Pirates righty, going 9-for-32 (.281) with four RBIs, three doubles, three runs scored and three walks.
Despite the maintained success against Vogelsong, Heyward and Montero aren’t the ones involved in this highly anticipated matchup. In fact, both Heyward and Montero have struggled this season, each hitting under .231 on the year.
The one guy to watch for in a matchup against Vogelsong is the Cubs left handed hitting first baseman Anthony Rizzo.
Rizzo has faced Vogelsong at least once in every season since 2013 and has had a good amount of success against him. Rizzo is 4-for-8 (.500) with three home runs, five RBIs, one double and three strikeouts in his career against Vogelsong. He is 1-for-1 this season against him with the lone hit being one of his three home runs.
Rizzo has been phenomenal for the Cubs this season, hitting .296 with 25 home runs and 89 RBIs in 125 games.
The Cubs first baseman is likely to be a huge force in this series and the Pirates pitching must do whatever they can to keep him from getting on base and hitting the long ball. This is something that Vogelsong has not been able to do in the past, but with the way he has been pitching recently, there are reasons to think that can change.
1.) Pirates vs Cubs on the road
All season long, the Pirates have had struggles facing off against the Cubs.
Like many teams against Chicago, the Pirates have lost more games than they have won, compiling a 3-9 record in 12 head-to-head matchups this season. In those matchups, the Bucs have been outscored 74 to 46.
The Bucs, who hold a 33-31 road record this season, have struggled even more in two road series against the Cubbies. They are only 1-5 on the road against Chicago this season as they lost two out of three at Wrigley in mid May and were swept in a series in mid June.
The Pirates did come out on top in the last meeting between these two teams, winning two out of three in a series at PNC Park right before the All Star Break. However, they must get over their Wrigley woes if they want to come out on top in this “David versus Goliath” type series.
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