I can’t tell you here anything that you don’t know. AJ Burnett has the lowest ERA in the National League, but he has zero wins because the Pirates can’t score runs. Who says traditional stats can’t tell you anything? The Cardinals won again today, so if the Pirates lose tonight, they’ll be nine games behind the Cards in the NL Central. It’s early in the season, but there’s been enough baseball for that to be a huge problem.
In that vein, here’s a great post at Forbes to Federal about Andrew McCutchen’s offensive woes. In short, either he’s hurt, or he was hurt enough that his swing changed dramatically. The difference in his swing from late last summer to this spring is pretty striking.
The Pirates haven’t score a run on anything besides a solo homer since last Saturday. That’s an insane stat. The Reds are starting Anthony DiSclafani tonight, and you’ve got to give him the advantage over the Pirate offense by virtue of him having an arm capable of throwing a baseball.
First pitch is at 7:05. The Pirates are wearing ridiculous camo jerseys again.
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