For some reason, the Phillies signed Kevin Correia this week and put him directly into their starting rotation, with his first start coming tonight against the Pirates. Correia was really awful for the Twins and Dodgers both last year, he spent spring training with the Mariners, and then a small amount of time with the Giants’ PCL affiliate after failing to make the Mariners’ roster. He is really, really not a good pitcher at this point in his career.
That makes this game an opportunity for the Pirates, even with Jeff Locke on the mound. Jeff Locke is having a truly abysmal season. In his last nine starts (please remember that he’s only made 11 starts this year), opponents are hitting .307/.379/.474 against him. He’s walked 24 hitters in 48 innings in that span, and allowed seven home runs. His ERA is 6.38. It truly speaks to the Pirates’ current starting pitching depth that the only solution anyone has for him is, “Well, maybe Vance Worley won’t be as bad, even though he’s been pretty close to as bad so far this year.”
There are going to be some runs scored tonight, is I suppose what I’m saying. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05, though I understand the weather is not great.
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