Gameday 20: Pirates return home to face the Boston Red Sox
After getting swept by the Mets, the Pirates return home to face the Red Sox
After winning just two of the seven games on their most recent road trip, the Pittsburgh Pirates will try to start anew at home with a weekend series versus the Boston Red Sox.
They could be without Aroldis Chapman for two games. Major League Baseball suspended him for the events that led to his ejection against the Mets.
While it’s not official yet, Quinn Priester is expected to be named the starter, as he was added to the taxi squad on Thursday.
He needs one more out to officially graduate from all prospect lists, including the Bucs on Deck Top 25.
The first pitch is expected around 6:40 pm ET.
Pirates Lineup
SS - Oneil Cruz
RF - Bryan Reynolds
3B - Ke’Bryan Hayes
1B - Rowdy Tellez
DH - Andrew McCutchen
LF - Jack Suwinski
2B - Jared Triolo
CF - Michael A. Taylor
C - Henry Davis
Red Sox Lineup
CF - Jarren Duran
LF - Wilyer Abreu
RF - Rob Refsnyder
1B - Tristan Casas
C - Connor Wong
DH - Masataka Yoshida
3B - Bobby Dalbec
2B - Enmanuel Valdez
SS - Ceddanne Rafaela
Pitching Matchup
PIT - Quinn Priester (Season Debut)
BOS - Bryan Bello (2-1, 3.92 ERA, 20.2 IP, 5 BB, 19 K)
Yesterday’s Feature
Hunter Barco has been one of the standout pitchers in the Pirates’ system this year. On Thursday, I broke down his fastball/slider, which has been a big key to his success.
Today’s Feature
Quinn Priester is making his season debut for the Pirates tonight, Ryan Palencer wrote about him looking to take advantage of this opportunity.
Support the site by becoming a paid member, and get access to all of our premium content, including our Top 25 list with complete player write-ups and my video breakdowns, which come out weekly. It will also give access to my player feature articles from on-site trips.
We have monthly and yearly plans available, with the latter coming out to an average of $4.16/month.
Updated the site's top 25 prospect list since Priester has officially graduated. Also removed Jackson Wolf, who I completely forgot was still on there. So two new names to check out.
I've already begun to lose interest in watching the games. Sad. Comments here have decreased by 75% during games, too. It seems that once again, early hope has been dashed as we recall the futility of having the same coaching staff and management year after year despite the increasingly alarming strikeout rates, saving players for a future that never arrives, and expect a different outcome from the same old penny-pinching, dumpster diving tactics.