Following a less than stellar home stand, the Pittsburgh Pirates are looking to put their losing ways behind them. The Bucs will look to improve on their win-loss record as they begin a four game series with the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
The Pittsburgh Pirates (69-72) have not started the month of September off well. The Bucs went 2-8 in their recent 10 game homestand against teams such as the Milwaukee Brewers, St Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds.
This recent streak along with a three game sweep at the hands of the Chicago Cubs to close the month of August have hindered the Pirates in their quest for a wild card berth for a fourth consecutive year. The Bucs currently sit six games back in the National League Wild Card race.
The Philadelphia Phillies (63-80) haven’t had the best year, but they have shown glimpses of success. They have had a much better year this year than they did in 2015 and have an abundance of talent that could provide matchup problems for the Bucs. The Phillies are 3-7 in their last 10 games and, like the Bucs, they have lost three games in a row.
The Phillies and Pirates are two struggling, young teams and there are a ton of matchups to watch for in this series. Here are the three that made our list.
3.) Gerrit Cole vs Phillies Offense
For the first time since Aug. 25, Gerrit Cole toes the rubber for the Pirates.
The Right hander has been on the shelf with inflammation in his right elbow and will make his 21st start of the season. He is starting in place of Jameson Taillon, who is having a start skipped due to the amount of innings he has pitched this season.
Cole struggled prior to his injury and in the month of August in particular. In five August starts, the Pirates ace went 1-3 with a 6.08 ERA and 1.88 WHIP. Cole has also given up 12 or more hits in two of his last three starts.
In this matchup tonight, it will be interesting to see if the time off due to injury will actually help Cole. He will be facing a struggling ball club in the Phillies and has had success against them in the past.
On July 22, Cole allowed just one earned run on six hits while walking one and striking out seven in six innings against the Phillies, but he took the loss in the matchup.
Cole’s return to the mound in general is something to keep an eye on, but the matchup between him and the Phillies offense is also intriguing. Cole could have the tough task of facing guys such as Cody Asche, Odubel Herrera and Freddy Galvis. However, Cole has had a ton of success against them in the past.
In fact, in their careers against Cole, the trio is a combined 6-for-26 with 10 strikeouts. Both Asche and Galvis have struck out twice against Cole, while Herrera has struck out six times in nine at-bats.
The Phillies offense is primarily paced by these three so it will be crucial for Cole to continue his success against them. It will be interesting to see whether or not that he can accomplish in his return to a major league mound.
2.) Young Starting Pitching Matchups
In the final two games of this four game series, the Pirates and Phillies are scheduled to showcase a sense of their pitching youth.
Four young starters take the mound in two separate pitching matchups that fans will not want to miss.
In game three of the series, Steven Brault and Jake Thompson toe the rubber for their respective teams. Brault has made five starts the major league level, while Thompson has only made seven. Both starters will be facing the opposing team for the first time in their careers.
Brault is still winless with an 0-2 record, but his 3.38 ERA is somewhat impressive. The 24-year old has not pitched into the seventh inning in any of his five starts and will need to keep his pitch count low to be effective against the Phillies young offense.
Thompson’s overall numbers don’t look great, but he has been pitching well as of late. The 22-year old is 1-5 this season with a 6.05 ERA, but that is mostly due to a rough August in which he posted a 7.86 ERA. In his last two starts, Thompson is 0-1 with a 2.19 ERA and 1.14 WHIP.
Thompson has primarily had struggles with the long ball, allowing seven home runs in 38.2 innings.
In the series finale on Thursday, Chad Kuhl goes up against Jerad Eickhoff in yet another battle between two young pitchers. Kuhl will be making his 11th major league start and first against the Phillies, while Eickhoff makes his 38th major league start and first against the Pirates.
Kuhl, who had his last start skipped in favor of Drew Hutchison, has had an up and down year in the major leagues. The 24-year old is 3-3 with a 4.09 ERA in 10 starts and is coming off of arguably his worst start of his major league career.
In his last start on Sept. 4, Kuhl allowed three earned runs on four hits while walking three and striking out two in only two innings. Kuhl threw 30 of his 58 pitches for strikes and took the loss in the 12-6 defeat at the hands of the St Louis Cardinals.
Kuhl will most definitely need to pitch deeper into the ball game on Thursday as the bullpen may get a ton of work in the opening three games of this series.
Eickhoff is different from these other young pitchers in the sense that he has a lot more experience. The 26-year old has spent all of 2016 in the majors and has experienced some ups and downs.
This season, Eickhoff is sporting a 10-13 record with a 3.73 ERA in 29 starts. He has been rock solid in his last two outings, compiling a 1-0 record with a 1.50 ERA and 1.08 WHIP.
Each of these pitching matchups will be highly anticipated as each young pitcher will look to make an impact on their struggling ball clubs.
1.) Ivan Nova vs Maikel Franco
In game two of this series, the Pirates send arguably their most reliable starter to the mound in the form of Ivan Nova.
Nova has been nearly untouchable in seven starts with the Pirates, posting a perfect 5-0 record with a 2.53 ERA. In that span, Nova has thrown two complete games and has compiled 32 strikeouts and two walks in 46.1 innings.
Nova will look to remain perfect on Tuesday as the young Phillies lineup. One matchup in particular to watch will be Nova against Maikel Franco.
Franco has arguably been the best Phillies hitter this season as he is currently hitting .247 with a team high 22 home runs and 73 RBIs in 133 games.
The Phillies 24-year old third baseman is hitting .304 in his last seven games, but in his career against Nova, he has struggled. It is a small sample size, but Franco is just 0-for-3 in his career against Nova with one strikeout.
Franco is a player who can change the complexity of a game in a second, so he shouldn’t be overlooked by Nova and the Pirates. This matchup will definitely be one to watch as Franco looks to continue his recent hitting surge and Nova looks to continue his stellar work on the mound as a Pirate.
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