It’s been a bit of a wild ride early on for the Chicago Cubs who may be dealing with some World Series hangover. Nevertheless, the Cubbies are back atop the NL Central while the Pittsburgh Pirates sit at the bottom of the division. The two, however, are separated by just a couple games in the standings.
This series will be contested from Monday, April 24, 2017 through Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Monday's clash is being shown live on ESPN.
Bet on MLB odds at BookMaker.eu every day of the season.
Pitching Matchups
The Cubs won’t pull out the big rotational guns until Jon Lester takes the hill in the series finale. He’ll matchup with Tyler Glasnow who—quite frankly—simply looks overmatched right now.
The 23-year old mega prospect cannot buy outs right now. He’s already given up 17 hits and walked nine. His 7.94 ERA through his first three starts should actually look much worse as he’s given up four of his 14 runs as unearned runs.
We can see that Glasnow has great stuff. He can get the swing-and-miss when he puts the ball where he wants to put it. He’s struck out 13 in 11.1 innings, but he cannot put it where he wants with enough consistency to find success, particularly against a Cubs lineup that may finally be getting to its potential.
As for Lester, the Cubs veteran southpaw has been good, as usually, his first four starts with a 2.66 ERA. He’s been a bit hittable, but overall, he’s done an excellent job keeping the opposition off the board. Unfortunately, the bullpen and lack of run support have caused him to still not have a decision at this point in the year.
Going back to the first two games of this series, the Pirates will turn to Chad Kuhl on Monday and then Gerrit Cole on Tuesday. The Cubs will look to Brett Anderson who is already experiencing some signs of injury for Monday’s start and to Kyle Hendricks on Tuesday.
While Kuhl isn’t a sexy name for the Pirates, the Pittsburgh hurler has pitched back-to-back quality starts and should give his team a chance, particularly against the oft-injured Anderson who has been nothing more than just okay in his first three starts.
As for Tuesday’s matchup of Cole versus Kyle Hendricks? There’s some intrigue there.
Cole and Hendricks are both in desperate need of rediscovering what made them both so effective in the past.
Cole has been impacted by injuries. It’s hard to say if he’s actually fully healthy. Even if he is, he’s certainly rusty and not his normal self. He’s only two years removed from a 2.60 ERA in 208 innings. That ace pitcher is still in there. His 4.70 ERA doesn’t tell that story, but his back-to-back quality starts are a good sign.
Hendricks, on the other hand, was a Cy Young candidate as recently as last year with his break out year to the tune of a league leading 2.13 ERA.
The young hurler is a control pitcher. He doesn’t have the stuff to blow you away and at this point, he’s struggled locating. He’s already given up seven walks and four home runs in 16 innings. He’s yet to pitch a quality start and, quite frankly, doesn’t even look like the same pitcher from last year.
Recent Trends
The Cubs haven’t been all that impressive so far. Expectations were so high, it seemed near impossible any team could reach them, but for Chicago, it’s been a slower than anticipated start.
This is a team with a full year of Kyle Schwarber and Willson Contreras and that alone was enough for some people to proclaim this team even better than the one that won it all last year—an All-Star closer from day one in the person of Wade Davis doesn’t hurt the case either.
All of that has led to some recent disappointments and the offense has been a big part of that. The bullpen has been a bit of an issue from time-to-time, too, though Davis does have four saves in 8.1 scoreless.
Offensively, the Cubs are still looking at Kris Bryant hitting .230, Schwarber batting .221 and Zobrist at .212. That’s not good, but there’s hope. The Cubs rank second in runs scored over the last seven calendar days, just two behind the Diamondbacks and 17 more than the Pirates.
Missing in Action
It was the biggest story in baseball last week, but the Pirates are still adjusting to the unexpected loss of Starling Marte to a PED suspension.
The talented centerfielder had arguably taken the helm of face of the franchise from Andrew McCutchen and offered power, speed and athleticism. He was the real deal; or so we thought.
Now, McCutchen moves back to center after the team told him he was no longer good enough defensively for the position. He also retakes the role as the focal point of the Pirates’ offense which is a bit troublesome given his rather pedestrian numbers from last year.
Fortunately for the Pirates, McCutchen has been rather good offensively this year after a rough first couple games of the year. He’s now tied for tops on the team in homers and seems to, if nothing else, have some of the pop back. Nevertheless, being out Marte when the team is also without Jung Ho Kang doesn’t help this offense. Those two players ranked first and third in team WAR last year according to Baseball Reference.
Right now, the Pirates only have two players with above average offensive performances: McCutchen and David Freese, ironically, the two players playing at the positions that would otherwise be occupied by Kang and Marte if not for their stupid personal decisions.
BookMaker offers play-by-play MLB betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook!
