As if things couldn’t have gotten any worse, the Pittsburgh Pirates may have finally reached their lowest point in the 2018 season.
The Bucs, who have lost five games in a row, are coming off a series in which their offense was absolutely shut down in a four game sweep at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Pirates (36-41) are now nine games behind the first place Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central and are a season-high five games below .500.
After a 3-6 homestand, the Pirates will take some time away from the not so friendly confines of PNC Park. They begin a nine-game road trip tonight against the New York Mets at Citi Field before traveling to the west coast to take on the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Like always, with competitive series come intriguing matchups to keep an eye on. Here are some of the matchups to look out for this week.
Jameson taillon vs. michael conforto
New York Mets outfielder Michael Conforto hasn’t had the best season overall.
He has spent the season struggling to hit over .200 while the Mets have had their woes of their own, sitting in fourth place in the NL East with a 31-44 record.
Conforto is hitting .233 with nine home runs and 23 RBIs this season. His average has grown significantly over his past seven games as he has seemed to figure things out for the time being.
Despite striking out seven times during that seven game span, Conforto is hitting .370 and has a pair of multi-hit games. He is riding a seven game hitting streak into tonight’s matchup with the Pirates and Jameson Taillon, who, like Conforto, has had some rough patches but has been better as of late.
Taillon, who is 4-6 with a 4.03 ERA this year, hasn’t been bad over his four June starts, going 2-2 with a 2.88 ERA and 1.16 WHIP. Taillon has struck out 24 batters and walked five in 25 innings.
Conforto and Taillon haven’t face each other many times at the major league level. In two at-bats against Taillon, Conforto is hitless with a walk and an RBI along with a strikeout.
Taillon hasn’t pitched against the Mets since his rookie year in 2016. His first two career major league starts were against New York. Taillon allowed three runs in six solid innings in his MLB debut before tossing eight shutout innings in his second start.
This particular matchup pits two former first round draft picks who have been pretty stellar as of late. It’s definitely a head-to-head battle that can have a big impact in the outcome of tonight’s game.
Chad Kuhl vs. mets
Chad Kuhl embarks on arguably his most important start of the season tomorrow at Citi Field.
It follows Kuhl’s worst start of the season as he allowed eight runs on eight hits in two innings against the Diamondbacks Thursday. This next start against the struggling Mets gives the young right hander an opportunity to bounce back and regain the momentum he had going into the outing against Arizona.
Prior to his dreadful start against the Diamondbacks, Kuhl was arguably the Pirates most consistent starter, posting five consecutive starts of going five-plus innings while allowing three or fewer runs. In four of those starts, Kuhl allowed two or fewer runs.
Despite having made only one career start against the Mets, in which he allowed five runs in 4.1 innings, Kuhl will be tasked with taming one of the league’s worst offenses.
The Mets rank 27th in baseball with a .233 team average and are 20th in the league with 79 home runs. They collectively have just four more homers than the Pirates, who don’t have a player on their roster with a double-digit home run total.
Kuhl has a golden opportunity tomorrow to put his last start behind him. Given the struggles that the Mets have had offensively this season, this matchup against New York’s lineup could be in Kuhl’s favor.
Ivan nova vs. jose bautista
Since coming off the disabled list, Ivan Nova has looked like a much different pitcher.
Nova, who has allowed two runs in his last three starts, is fresh off his best start of the season in which he tossed eight shutout innings against Arizona Friday. The veteran hurler allowed three hits and struck out eight.
Nova looks to continue his solid stretch as he’s slated to start the finale of this three game set against New York.
While the Mets are one of the worst hitting teams in the league, they do have one player that has been a big contributor as of late. And it just so happens that he’s no stranger to Nova.
Former Pirate Jose Bautista has seemed to have found a home in New York after also spending some time with the Atlanta Braves this season.
Bautista is hitting .226 on the year, but is coming off a quality series against the Dodgers in which he went 5 for 9 with a pair of home runs and four RBIs. The veteran also induced four walks in the series and scored three runs.
Going back to his days with the Toronto Blue Jays, Bautista had plenty of plate appearances against Nova, a former New York Yankee.
The two haven’t faced off since 2016, but quite a few of the previous matchups have turned out in Bautista’s favor. In his career against Nova, he is 9 for 29 (.310) with one home run and seven RBIs. Bautista has scored five runs and walked eight times while striking out on seven occasions.
There is no player in the Mets lineup that has seen Nova more than Bautista. Their recent history and renewed rivalry of sorts is more than enough of a reason for fans to keep an eye on this matchup.
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