Series preview: Pirate ship stops in the desert

Pittsburgh Pirates (36-57) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (27-68), July 19-21, 2021

Location: Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ

TV: AT&T Sports Pittsburgh

Radio: KDKA-AM

Diamondbacks SB Nation Site: AZ Snake Pit

Can the Pirates gather momentum this week facing the worst team in the bigs, the Arizona Diamondbacks?

Here’s a look at what we can expect this week:

Projected Starters

Monday, 9:40 p.m. EST

Chase De Jong (1-3, 5.59 ERA) vs. Caleb Smith (2-6, 4.54 ERA)

Tuesday, 9:40 p.m. EST

Tyler Anderson (5-8, 4.35 ERA) vs. TBD

Wednesday, 3:40 p.m. EST

TBD vs. Madison Bumgarner (4-6, 5.35 ERA)

Projected Lineups

Pirates

1. Adam Frazier (2B)
2. Ke’Bryan Hayes (3B)
3. Bryan Reynolds (CF)
4. Ben Gamel (LF)
5. John Nogowski (1B)
6. Gregory Polanco (RF)
7. Jacob Stallings (C)
8. Kevin Newman (SS)
9. Starting Pitcher

Diamondbacks

1. Josh Rojas (2B)
2. Kole Calhoun (RF)
3. Eduardo Escobar (3B)
4. Christian Walker (1B)
5. David Peralta (LF)
6. Pavin Smith (CF)
7. Nick Ahmed (SS)
8. Daulton Varsho (C)
9. Starting Pitcher

The cellar dwellers of the National League face off in the desert this week. There probably isn’t too much interest among Diamondbacks fans considering the team is 40 games under .500 and they have a basketball team competing for its first NBA championship this week.

This series might be intriguing for Pirates fans considering the Buccos are favored in the series. You won’t see that everyday.

It’s also probably intriguing for scouts on other teams. They’ll get one of the final opportunities to look at guys like Adam Frazier, Eduardo Escobar and Tyler Anderson before preparing final offers ahead of next week’s trade deadline.