In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates.
Today, the Pittsburgh Pirates open up their home slate of the 2017 season with their home opener at PNC Park. When the first pitch is thrown, the 16th season of baseball will begin at one of the premier baseball venues in the country.
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Due to yesterday’s rain out, the starting rotation has been juggled a bit. Ivan Nova remains the starting pitcher for today’s contest. Yesterday’s would-be starter Chad Kuhl will be bumped to Saturday, with Gerrit Cole closing out the opening series against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday.
Everybody got that? Ok. Good.
Now let’s talk about Nova. This will of course be Nova’s first start for the Pittsburgh Pirates following the club re-signing him to a three-year deal. After Gerrit Cole’s pre-fifth inning performance and Jameson Taillon‘s excellent season debut, many eyes will be on the veteran righty to show that this rotation is, indeed, much improved.
Everyone knows how well Nova performed last year since joining the Pittsburgh Pirates. As we explained at the time, five starts into Nova’s Pirates run, his success was predicated on having a higher first-strike percentage than he did at any point in his New York Yankees tenure. Sometimes, it is simply that easy.
However, observers would be keen to keep an eye on curveball usage. Clint Hurdle hinted that the club would explore the curveball more often in 2017, and Nova is a prime candidate to do so. In fact, he already threw his curveball to much greater effectiveness after coming over to Pittsburgh:
The Pittsburgh Pirates seem to be a team whose pitching philosophy is in flux, and Nova’s skillset may just be a big reason why.
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Baseball Talk on the Web
- FanGraphs’ David Laurila has a fantastic Q&A with Taillon.
- If you hated the World Baseball Classic, have we got an article for you. Major Leaguers may play in the Olympics in 2020.
- The Atlanta Braves have signed Ryan Howard to a minor league deal.
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