The Pirates have hovered around .500 all season, which was enough to keep them in contention through the trade deadline. But the Phillies and Padres have pulled away since then, leaving the Pirates without a postseason appearance for the eleventh consecutive season.
Kansas City Royals (67-86) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (76-77) at PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA
Royals: 4.20 runs scored/game (24th in MLB), 4.84 runs allowed/game (25th)
Pirates: 4.77 runs scored/game (5th), 4.61 runs allowed/game (20th)
Last year
the Pirates scored the fewest runs in baseball, this year they are fifth. The spike in offense has come from the additions of veterans Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn, improvements by Bryan Reynolds and Nick Gonzales, and solid rookie debuts by Esmerlyn Valdez (who is out this series) and Konnor Griffin.
Who’s hot:
- Rafael Flores Jr. is hitting .390/.405/.561 over his last 11 games.
- John Rave is htiting .255/.369/.509 with four home runs and five steals in his last 18 games.
Who’s not:
- Konnor Griffin is hitting .200/.245/.300 in 12 games since coming off the Injured List.
- Nick Loftin has hit .158/.200/.211 in his last 12 games.
Interesting splits:
- Oneil Cruz is hitting .311/.364/.462 against lefties.
- Maikel Garcia is hitting .333/.405/.413 with runners in scoring position
Since July 1, Randy Dobnak has the 9th-highest groundball rate among starting pitchers at 49.8 percent. Paul Skenes has the tenth-best strikeout rate in baseball at 27.8 percent.
Noah Cameron has a 3.18 ERA on the road in 14 games this year. Right-handers are hitting .216/.313/.290 against Bubba Chandler.
Opponents are hitting just .191 against Michael Wacha, and FanGraphs grades his changeup as the fourth-best in baseball. The Pirates have not yet announced a starter for Sunday, but it could be lefty Antoine Kelly, who was just called up.
Pittsburgh has a 4.13 ERA out of their bullpen, with the third-highest walk rate. They are tied with the Royals with 24 blown saves. Mason Montgomery and Gregory Soto are tied for the team-high in saves with 14 each. Montgomery has the second-highest strikeout rate among qualified relievers.
The Pirates swept the White Sox in Chicago last week, but dropped back-to-back series to the Cubs and Brewers. They are 39-36 at home this year, with the fourth-best home wRC+, hitting .269/.347/.431 at PNC Park.
