Series Preview: Pirates at Padres

The Pirates will try to finish their 11 game road trip on a strong note, finishing with San Diego in a four game set.

Like the Pirates, the Padres have a winning record (22-21) despite having a negative run differential (-16). After jumping out of the gate hot, the Dads have cooled off as of late, losing their last three and 10 of their last 16.

The Pirates are entering the series 21-19, four games out of first place in the Central and a game behind the wild card pace.

Schedule

Thursday, 10:10 p.m. — Trevor Williams (2-1, 3.40) vs. Eric Lauer (2-4, 5.75). TV: AT&T SportsNet, MLB Network (out of market)

Friday, 10:10 p.m. — Jordan Lyles (3-1, 2.09) vs. Joey Lucchesi (3-2, 4.57). TV: AT&T SportsNet

Saturday, 8:40 p.m. — Pirates Starter TBD vs. Nick Margevicius (2-4, 4.14). TV: AT&T SportsNet

Sunday, 4:10 p.m. — Joe Musgrove (2-4, 3.59) vs. Padres Starter TBD. TV: AT&T SportsNet

Padres

Offense

The Pirates will be avoiding rookie of the year candidate Fernando Tatis Jr. while the shortstop recovers from a hamstring injury.... Manny Machado is the most noteworthy bat in the lineup, but Franmil Reyes and Hunter Renfroe have also provided some pop, clubbing 12 and 10 home runs, respectively... Machado leads the Padres with 1.3 fWAR, providing good offense (119 wRC+) and defense (4 DRS).

Eric Hosmer is heating up lately, slashing .375/.404/.500 during his 12 game on-base streak... Wil Myers is in a rut, posting a .520 OPS in 59 PAs since Apr. 24, lowering his season OPS+ to 100.

As a team, the Padres have an 87 wRC+- 21st in baseball, and one spot ahead of the Pirates (83).

Pitching

The Padres are sending (at least) three lefties to the mound this series. The Pirates are tied for the worst wRC+ (64) and second worst OPS (.607) against left-handers this year.

Lauer was tagged for eight earned runs in his most recent outing, pitching in Colorado...Lucchesi has not made a quality start in 2019. The 25 year old started the season with two scoreless outings, but has allowed 22 runs over 31 IP in his last six outings... Margevicius is succeeding thanks in large part to his .262 BABIP, outperforming his 5.04 FIP in the early parts of his rookie season.

Again, like the Pirates, the Padres had one of the NL’s premier bullpens in 2018, but have been pedestrian so far this season. Their team bullpen FIPs are virtually identical (4.09 for San Diego, 4.10 for Pittsburgh)... Kirby Yates is cementing himself as one of the game’s top closers, saving 16 so far with a 1.30 ERA to boot... Trey Wingenter is arguably the Padres’ second best reliever (2.93 ERA, 12.3 K/9). He’s been sidelined with a shoulder injury, but he might be back this series.