Pirates Preview: Paul Skenes's Shot to Reclaim Rookie of Year
The Pittsburgh Pirates will look to get back into the win column on Thursday when they begin a four-game series against their NL Central rival Cincinnati Reds, and they'll have the right man on the mound to do so.
Paul Skenes will be back on the bump for Pittsburgh. In his last outing, he pitched six innings, allowed two runs, walked four batters and struck out six in a 5-3 win over the Seattle Mariners on Friday. The win was Skenes' first in over a month and snapped the Pirates' 10-game losing streak.
Skenes is 7-2 with a 2.30 ERA and 121 strikeouts in 98 innings pitched. There's also plenty of speculation about whether or not the Pirates will shut him down as they fall out of Wild Card contention.
In the lone outing of his career against Cincinnati, the frontrunner for NL Rookie of the Year pitched six innings, allowed six hits, one walk, one run and struck out seven batters. Pittsburgh is 4-2 against the Reds this season.
How the Pirates handle Skenes' pitch count will bear watching, as they have effectively fallen out of the playoff race. The 21-year-old flamethrowing right-hander's four walks in his last start was a career-high and his average fastball velocity has been below 98 miles per hour in his previous two outings for the first time in his MLB career by Baseball Savant's metrics.
The Pirates return home after dropping two of three on the road to the Texas Rangers, including a walk-off 1-0 loss in the series finale on Wednesday. Cincinnati most recently took two out of three from the Toronto Blue Jays on the road.
Cincinnati will counter the Pirates' budding ace with 6-foot-6 lefty Nick Lodolo. Lodolo is 9-5 with a 4.55 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 110.2 innings pitched. In his lone outing against the Pirates this season, Lodolo pitched seven innings, allowed four hits, one run and struck out eight batters to earn the win.
Lodolo struggled mightily in his last outing against the Kansas City Royals, allowing eight runs over 2.1 innings pitched.
Pirates vs. Reds Broadcast Info
Location: PNC Park
Records: Pirates (59-67), Reds (62-65)
First pitch: 6:40 p.m. ET
TV: Pirates - SportsNet-PIT — Reds - Bally Sports Ohio
Radio: Pirates - KDKA-FM 93.7 — Reds - WLW 700
Pirates vs. Reds Betting Odds via SI Sportsbook
Spread: Pirates -1.5 (+150), Reds +1.5 (-188)
Total: Over 7.5 (+100), under 7.5 (-125)
Moneyline: Pirates -150, Reds +120
NATHANIEL MARRERO