Still a week away from the opening their new ballpark, the Atlanta Braves will make the trip to the Steel City to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates in a three-game weekend set. The Pirates have become an afterthought in the NL Central after the Cubs and Cardinals, but despite a sub-.500 season last year, there’s still some optimism in Pittsburgh with a healthy Gerrit Cole and a nice young rotation.
This series will be contested from Friday, April 7, 2017 through Sunday, April 9, 2017 at PNC Park in Boston. Friday's series opening clash is being shown live on MLB Network.
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Pitching Matchups
Friday night’s game is the home opener for the Pirates who are saving their big free agent signee, Ivan Nova, for the event.
The veteran right-hander pitched very well down the stretch in 2016 under Rey Searage’s tutelage after his trade from the Yankees.
Nova pitched to a 3.06 ERA in a Pirates’ uniform and had a 2.45 ERA at PNC Park. He’ll try and keep the magic going as he faces an improved Braves team that’ll be sending 42-year old knuckleballer R.A. Dickey to the bump.
Dickey struggled last year in Toronto with an ERA in the mid-4s, but he was a much better pitcher away from Toronto and the last time he was in the NL, he won a Cy Young Award with the Mets.
Of course, nobody expects him to be nearly as good this time through the senior circuit, but the knuckler provides an extra wrinkle for Pirates hitters and could actually help Mike Foltynewicz and Julio Teheran who figure to take the ball for the Bravos on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
The Pirates’ starters for the last two games of this set remain unannounced, but Gerrit Cole, Jamison Taillon and Chad Kuhl got the ball in the first three games so it figures that Tyler Glasnow and Cole will get the starts, it’s just uncertain what the order will be. Will Cole come back on regular rest or be given the extra day?
Who's Hot?
For the Braves, Freddie Freeman is always hot. It’s hard to really pick a hot player so early in the season, but Freeman started off the campaign with a three hit game—one of which being a home run.
The 27-year old first baseman had a huge year last year with a .302 average, .968 OPS, 38 homers and 91 RBIs on a team with nothing else on the offensive end of the ball, particularly in the first half of the season.
For the Pirates pitchers, they have to pitch around Freeman and make the rest of the Atlanta lineup beat them. That means, the Braves need Matt Kemp and the like to step up and this team may actually have a few players that can do just that this year.
With Kemp and Brandon Phillips added to the mix, that takes some pressure off of other veterans like Nick Markakis and Ender Inciarte as well as rookie sensation Dansby Swanson.
Flipping the script to the Pirates, the Buccos have a great outfield with Gregory Polanco and Starling Marte both falling into the “Who’s Hot” category off strong World Baseball Classic performances for both players.
Polanco, in particular, played very well with a .619 OBP and 1.461 OPS to lead the stacked Dominican Republic team.
Who's Not?
As for the who’s not, unfortunately, that would be Andrew McCutchen. The centerfielder-turned-right fielder for the Pirates didn’t look good at the dish in the World Baseball Classic—save for one big hit for the US team. He also spent the entire winter surrounded by trade rumors that had him all but out of Pittsburgh.
McCutchen is a prideful player and a true professional so he’s said all the right things, but you know the offseason hurt.
In the season opener, the former NL MVP struck out three times as he tried to get off to a strong start as he tries to put the offseason and his worst year as a major leaguer in 2016 in the rearview mirror. Until he strings together a few big hits, however, McCutchen will remain more of an enigma for this team than a star.
Now, for the Braves, the questions within the bullpen have already begun.
Atlanta got a very good start from Teheran against the Mets on Opening Day then proceeded to allow a six spot on the board in the seventh inning with Ian Krol, Chaz Roe and Eric O’Flaherty all failing to get out of the inning before Jose Ramirez finally got the job done.
The Braves remade their rotation to help protect the young guns in the organization and they’ve added some depth to the lineup, but the pen outside of Jim Johnson is still a big issue for this team.
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