Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Philadelphia Phillies: What to Expect
With the craziness that is the 2021 MLB Trade Deadline in the books, the Pittsburgh Pirates can now relax and focus on baseball. The Pirates were one of the most active teams at the deadline, making three trades over the past week, including 2 moves today. Now, with the roster set for the final two months of the season, Manager Derek Shelton and his team can focus on baseball and not worrying about who is staying and who is going. However, it won't be easy as they welcome in their cross-state rival the Philadelphia Phillies, who are right in the thick of the battle for the NL East title. It is the first baseball battle for PA since 2019, and both teams are looking to gain the advantage.
For the Pirates, they are just looking to get their offense going after an embarrassing showing against the Brewers. They were outscored 27-3 in the three-game series, with all three runs coming courtesy of Rodolfo Castro home runs in game two of the series. Meanwhile, the Phillies are facing the opposite problem as they are looking for starting pitching to help a depleted rotation. the two PA rivals were nearly trade partners this last week, with the Pirates sending Tyler Anderson to the Phillies for two prospects, but the deal ended up falling through. Both clubs look to get back on track during this three game series as August baseball kicks into high gear. Today, we look at what to expect as the Pirates welcome the Phillies for the first time since 2019.
Scouting The Phillies
The Phillies enter Friday night's opener on the ultimate high, putting together one of the best comeback wins of the season. They were down by seven after 2.5 innings and came back to win the game 11-8, scoring seven runs on the final two innings. Overall, they have won three of their last five games, and four of their last seven games while staying 3.5 games back of the Division Leading New York Mets in the NL East race. The biggest problem for the Phillies over those last seven games has been pitching as the staff has combined for a 6.00 ERA, ranking them 26th in baseball this season. They are desperate for a good outing in this series, and they may be able to do it against a slumping Pirates offense.
The two bats leading the way for the Phillies as of last are Bryce Harper, and former Pirate Andrew McCutchen. Harper is leading the way right now hitting .395 with a home run and three RBI over the last couple games. While he is typically known as the run producer for the Phillies, this season, he has changed his tune more to the table setter for the Phillies. Then, there is McCutchen, who after a slow start to the season has bounced back nicely over the last 15 games. He has hit .305 during that stretch with five home runs and 10 RBI. He has been the Phillies top run producer as of late, and is starting to find his swing as of late. The Pirates are hoping they can shut these two down and bounce back after a tough stretch.
Continue Success Against the NL East
Even though the Pirates have been pretty bad this season, a group of teams that they have done well again at are the NL East. Of the six series the Pirates played against NL East teams this season, they have three wins, two losses, and one tie. There latest success against the NL East came against the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves, and now they are looking to even the standings out against the Philadelphia Phillies. In their last 10 games against the NL East teams, the Pirates are averaging 5.2 runs per game and we're 2-0-1 in those three series. They helped the Phillies climb the standings, now they hope to knock them back down.
However, in order to keep up that pace, the Pirates offense needs to get going. The team has only scored three runs over their past three games, and are averaging just a run per game over their last four games played. They lost their leadoff hitter, and have been experimenting such a bunch of different guys in that position over the last three games. Kevin Newman, Ben Gamel, and Wilmer Difo have all gotten their shot there, but none of those players were able to take the opportunity and run with it. A good start is imperative for this offense to get going, and they need to find someone to handle that leadoff spot to be successful.
Managing Innings and Starts
One thing the Pirates starting pitchers face been unable to do this season is go deep into games. Pirates starters rank 26th in the league in innings pitched, working just 491.1 innings of work this season. That is good for an average of just 4.2 innings a start, which is not going to lead to much success. The Pirates used the trade deadline to try and improve that, bringing in 23-year-old right-hander Bryse Wilson and bringing back Mitch Keller to try and eat more innings. With the bullpen being severely overworked this season, the starters are going to have to show they can last longer in games as the 2021 season comes to an end.
The Pirates are hoping to take a step towards that today, as they face an offense that has been middle-of-the-road this season. As a team, the Phillies rank 18th in the league with a .241 average and rank 19th in home runs (120) and 15th in RBI (440). There are a couple of big thumpers in there, like the aforementioned McCutchen and Harper, but overall it is a middle-of-the-road lineup. The Pirates have a chance to go out and take advantage of this, by throwing up a couple of good starts. Wil Crowe kicks things off fresh off his best start of his Big League career, as he tries to set the tone for the Pirates and give their offense a chance.
the Pittsburgh Pirates (38-64) open a three-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies (51-51) at 7:05 pm.
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