After sweeping the North Siders earlier this month, the Pittsburgh Pirates face the Chicago Cubs for the second time in 2017. Here are the matchups to watch.
Pittsburgh Pirates fans were invigorated earlier this month when their favorite team swept the defending champion Chicago Cubs in a three-game series. The sweep pushed the club to 6-6, and many felt that the team had hit a proverbial reset button on the season, with a bumpy start behind them.
Since then, things have not gone all that well for the team. They lost their best player to suspension, got swept themselves at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals and their play as of late has been unbelievably sloppy.
Chicago Cubs skipper Joe Maddon will undoubtedly have his team ready to go against such a shaky club. If the Pittsburgh Pirates have any designs on winning this series, their chances may come down to how they do in these three matchups.
Pittsburgh Pirates Hitters Versus Left-Handed Starters
The Pirates will face two left-handed starters during the series in Jon Lester and Brett Anderson. As a team, Pittsburgh has struggled against left-handed starters in 2017, posting a .190/.279/.319 slashline.
But there are some positive individual performances to pick out. The trio of Josh Harrison, Andrew McCutchen and Gregory Polanco represents the three Pirates hitters with the most plate appearances against southpaws in 2017. Each fare surprisingly well. McCutchen in particular sees left-handers well with just an eight percent strikeout rate against them versus a 16 percent walk rate. There is definitely some smoke and mirrors deception at play in these stats, as the Pirates’ number three hitter has just a 26.3 hard hit percentage against lefties as well as a meager 10.5 percent line drive figure. Still, McCutchen seems to be able to work his way into optimal counts against left handed pitching; if he can make good contact he may be in for a big series.
Harrison has seen 21 plate appearances against left-handers, and has been able to serve as a productive hitter against them with a .333/.429/.526 slash and a home run. Harrison has been making hard contact lately, and if that trend continues good things will continue to happen for him. Polanco’s slashline against a left-hander is competent – .286/.348/.381, but for the Pittsburgh Pirates to be successful in this series – and any series – Polanco must step up his run creation efforts.
Josh Bell Versus Everyone
Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Josh Bell has been quietly heating up. Bell has hit safely in six consecutive contests, part of a 7-for-21 stretch. By displaying more power as of late – Bell hit two homers during that same stretch – the rookie – yes, still technically a rookie – is showing a new wrinkle to opposing scouting.
During the previous Cubs series, Bell started but one game, and went a combined 1-for-5 during the series. This came in the middle of a small slump for Bell at the time, who was hitless in his last four games prior. A quick look at statcast data during the Cubs series shows us that Bell made hard contact, with exit velocities at 97 mph and above.
The Pittsburgh Pirates Versus Themselves
We’ll end our matchups to watch with an obvious one. The Pirates come into this series with the taste of sloppy play in their mouths. Though the club won the series with the Yankees, they nearly gave it away after a booted double-play in the final game – and that came after numerous miscues in a very winnable second game in the series.
In this light, we could easily say that this matchup looms largest. This Pirates team has its share of talent, but until that talent starts producing at the level it is capable of, it is not talented enough to live with sloppy play, whether it shows up in the error column or not.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
