Pirates

Pirates Preview: Rich Hill Aims to Give a Quality Start in Desert

Published

10 months ago

July 7, 2023

The Pittsburgh Pirates (40-47) fell victim to the long ball in game four against the Los Angeles Dodgers and lost three out of four to start their road trip.

The Pirates lost game four by a score of 5-2. The Pirates will now turn their attention to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the desert, as they try to turn this woeful start around.

Game between between the Pirates and Diamondbacks will be at Chase Field, with first pitch at 9:40 Eastern. You can watch all of the action on AT&T Sportsnet, or listen to the game on 93.7 The Fan.

Weather

Chase Field has a roof, so no worries on the weather for the next few games.

The Pirates will send out LHP Rich Hill (7-8, 4.50 ERA)

Hill last pitched on July 2 against the Milwaukee Brewers and suffered the loss. In that start, Hill pitched five innings while giving up three hits, three earned runs, two walks, and struck out eight.

Hill has had a rough go of things in his last seven starts. In his last 41.1 innings pitched, Hill has a 3-4 record with an ERA of 4.79. Granted, it’s not terrible, but not great.

Hill has faced the Diamondbacks 12 times (12 starts) and holds a 1-7 record with an ERA of 5.86 in 63 innings pitched.

The Diamondbacks will send out RHP Zac Gallen (10-3, 3.15 ERA)

In his last start on July 2, Gallen pitched seven innings while giving up five hits, four earned runs, one walk, and struck out 12. Gallen, however, took the loss against the Angels.

In his last two starts, Gallen has given up four runs apiece on five hits in each game. If you combine his last seven starts, Gallen has amassed a 4-1 record with an ERA of 3.43.

Gallen has a four-pitch mix with a four-seam (46.7%), curveball (25.2%), cutter (14.4%), and a changeup (13.1%). In addition, Gallen has thrown a few sinkers (nine times).

Gallen has faced the Pirates three times (three starts) and holds a record of 1-2 with an ERA of 3.78 in 6.2 innings pitched.

Diamondbacks vs. Hill

Ketel Marte: 3-6 with a homer
Christian Walker: 0-4 with three strikeouts

Pirates Hitters vs. Gallen

Jack Suwinski: 3-6 with three doubles
Ke’Bryan Hayes: 2-5 with a double and a walk
Austin Hedges: 0-6
Tucupita Marcano: 0-5 with three walks and three strikeouts
Connor Joe: 1-9 with dour strikeouts
Bryan Reynolds: 1-7 with two walks and three strikeouts

Tidbits

Out of his 12 starts against the Diamondbacks, Hill has pitched in Chase Field three times with an ERA of 10.38 in 13 innings pitched.
Gallen’s weak spot has been his cutter this year with an opposing average of .317 and an average EV of 91.1 mph. In addition, Gallen throws his cutter fairly evenly between lefties and righties
In terms of swing and miss, Gallen’s curveball has a whiff% of 44.9% and he throws it 55% of the time to right-handed hitters.