Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction Machine – Need to Capitalize

Welcome to another edition of The Pittsbrugh Pirates Prediction Machine

Welcome my friends. Welcome to the Pittsburgh Pirates prediction machine, in which we make predictions about five Pirates performances in the upcoming week.

We also take a look back at the previous week’s predictions to see how each panned out.

Last Week’s Results

The Pirates had five games this week with a couple of days off.  They split two games against the Seattle Mariners at home and were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers on the road.

We thought the Pirates would mash LHP.  Specifically, we thought the Pirates would beat up on James Paxton of the Seattle Mariners, the only lefty starter they would face, scoring at least 3 runs by the 4^th inning.  They scored 3 runs in the 3^rd inning en route to a 10-1 drubbing of the Mariners.  If only the Pirates could face LHP every time out.

We predicted that Gerrit Cole would be more efficient:  We expected him to throw more strikes and to be able to efficiently work into the 6^th inning.  We couldn’t have predicted his first ever complete game though, allowing only 3 hits and one earned run.  It was probably the most efficient start Gerrit Cole has ever had as a professional.

We thought Josh Harrison would come up big:  We expected him to get a big hit in a tight game and he did just that, getting a leadoff triple in the third inning against the Mariners in a 0-0 game.   He would eventually score the game’s first run in what would turn out to be the team’s only win last week.

We expected Milwaukee to win the series opener:  Given that Milwaukee planned to pitch Junior Guerra (2.85 ERA) against a Pirates TBD (turned out to be Steve Brault), we predicted that the Pirates would lose the series opener – which they did 3-1.  Unfortunately, they lost the next two games as well and were swept by the lowly Milwaukee Brewers.

We thought that maybe, just maybe, Andrew McCutchen would get more hits than strikeouts:  Cutch has only had one month this season (May) where he registered more hits than strikeouts.  He started off the Mariners series with 3 hits against 3 K’s, but went downhill from there ending the week with 4 hits and 6 strikeouts, making our prediction wrong.  Sadly, it’s getting to the point where we don’t expect much of anything from Cutch.

Overall we were 4 for 5 this week.  A bad week for the Pittsburgh Pirates but a good week for the Prediction Machine.

This week (August 1-7), the Pirates travel to Atlanta for a three game set and then back to PNC for a three game series against the Cincinnati Reds.  They face more right handed pitching, which they have struggled to win against this season.  Jeff Locke and Ryan Vogelsong will re-enter the starting rotation and the Bucs will be without the services of Mark Melancon.  All this does not bode well for their chances.  That said, their offense is due to bounce back and Gerrit Cole will pitch at two of the games this week.  Throwing all of that into the mix, here are our predictions for this week.

Cole will win the opener at Atlanta:  Cole is coming off his first complete game and will be raring to go.  It may not be as dominant of a performance as his complete game, but expect a solid W nonetheless.

Locke or Vogelsong will crater: One of the two will have a sub-par performance, allowing 3 runs in the first 4 innings.  Here’s hoping that isn’t true for both of them.

The Pirates will sweep the Reds:  Yes, we are calling a sweep!  Jameson Taillon and Cole will deliver strong performances and the bullpen will bail out Francisco Liriano.

Five more Ks for Cutch: Whenever we predict something good for McCutchen, we are wrong, and whenever we predict something bad for him, we are right.  It’s just that kind of year and it will be that kind of week for #22.

Great week for Mark Melancon:  OK, technically he is not a Pirate anymore, but we think he will pitch very well in his first week with the Nationals, if only to create a horrible seller’s remorse here in Pittsburgh.  We think no blown saves and two earned runs or less this week for Mark “the Shark” Melancon in his new uniform.

That’s our predictions for this week.  Be sure to tune in next week to see how we fared.

Featured Photo Credit – Daniel Decker Photography