Pirates

Pirates Daily: The Johan Oviedo Experiment Begins

Published

2 years ago

September 2, 2022

Friday, Sept. 2, the Pittsburgh Pirates (49-81) enter a three-game weekend series against the Toronto Blue Jays (70-59) at PNC Park starting at 6:35 p.m. Friday.

The Pirates are coming off of a rough series in Milwaukee, where they dropped two out of three to the Brewers. Can the Pirates beat our friends from the north?

The game will air on AT&T Sportsnet Pittsburgh and 93.7 The Fan.

Starters

Making his Pirates’ debut will be recently called up Johan Oviedo (2-1, 3.20 ERA). Oviedo had been getting stretched out as a starter in Triple-A Indianapolis and posted a 0.79 ERA in 11.1 innings pitched. He had been relieving for the St. Louis Cardinals before being traded to the Pirates on Aug. 1. Oviedo will attack hitters mainly with his four-seam (43.4%) and slider (43%), but he offers a curveball (10.9%), and the occasional changeup (2.7%).

The Blue Jays will pitch right-hander Alek Manoah (12-7, 2.60), who made his first All-Star Game appearance this season and is a former West Virginia University star. He is just 1-3 with a 3.86 ERA in his last six starts and took the loss last Saturday to the Los Angeles Angels despite allowing only one run in seven innings.

Betting Odds

The Blue Jays are -245 favorites on the moneyline and the Pirates are listed at +205. On the runline, the Blue Jays are -1.5 (-140) and the Pirates are +1.5 (+120). The over/under is 8 (O -120, U +100).

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not

Who’s Hot: Kevin Newman has started to click in his last month’s worth of games. In 122 at-bats, Newman is batting .303/.333/.410.

Who’s Not: Ke’Bryan Hayes, however, has struggled in his last month’s worth of games. In 112 at-bats, Hayes is batting .223/.281/.330.

Tidbits:

Oviedo has yet to face the Blue Jays in his career.
Oviedo has a huge difference when you look at his starter/reliever splits during his major league career. As a starter, opponents are batting .264/.370/.438 with an OPS of .808. As a reliever, opponents are batting just .215/.263/.387 with an OPS of .650.
Since coming to the Pirates’ system, Oviedo has yet to go more than 3.2 inning. How far can Oviedo go in his Pirates’ debut?