Pirates

Pirates Preview: The Boys Are Back & Play the Marlins at PNC

Published

2 years ago

July 22, 2022

The Pittsburgh Pirates (39-54) are officially back after the All-Star break and begin a three-game home series against the Miami Marlins (43-49). The Pirates, as you know, recently concluded their 2022 MLB Draft, and fans are anxious to get some actual baseball underway.

Lineup

Newman 6
Hayes 5
Chavis 3
Tsutsugo DH
Castillo 4
Mitchell 9
Marisnick 8
Gamel 7
Delay 2

Weather

The weather in Pittsburgh at first pitch (7:05 p.m.) is looking like a hot one. The temperature is expected to reach 86 degrees with nine mph winds blowing west. No rain is expected, and we should get a full game of baseball underway.

Starters

The Pirates will send out Zach Thompson (3-6, 4.09 ERA) to face rookie left-hander Braxton Garrett (1-3, 3.70 ERA).

Garrett, in his last three games, has pitched 19 innings and given up four runs. Six of those innings were against the Pirates, and he pitched wonderfully, striking out 11 and giving up no runs.

Thompson’s last start was ironically against Garrett on July 14th, and despite the Pirates losing, Thompson was brilliant. Thompson pitched 6.2 innings and only gave up one earned run, a classic Pirates’ case of barely any run support.

Betting Odds

Since the Pirates have yet to announce a starter, there are no betting odds, but we will update as soon as possible when there is any movement.

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not?

Who’s Hot: Jake Marisnick in his last seven games is batting a .400/.444/.800 slash line. Can Marisnick continue his dominance into the Marlins series?

Who’s Not: Yoshi Tsutsugo has been pretty bad in his last 27 at-bats. Tsutsugo has registered just four hits, struck out eight times, and had a slash line of .148/.179/.185.

Tidbits

The last time the Pirates faced Garrett, they fielded six right-handed batters in the lineup, with Kevin Newman leading things off. Do we see manager Derek Shelton mix things up or keep a similar lineup card Friday night?
Kevin Newman is batting .296 in his last seven games and has done fairly well against lefties in his career, batting a decent .261. Might we see Newman pop off against Garrett?
The Marlins and Pirates have split the season series at two games apiece. The Pirates and Marlins will not play against each other again in 2022, so whoever wins this series takes the crown.