4-19-24 – By Ethan Smith – @mvp_EtHaN
After a road trip that the Pittsburgh Pirates would like to forget, they come home for their second home-stand of the season, starting with yet another AL East foe in the Boston Red Sox.
The Pirates had success at home against the previous AL East team that came to town, besting the Orioles in two out of three games at PNC Park.
Pittsburgh enters this one losers of six of their last eight games, headlined by a series sweep from the New York Mets in Flushing, a series that saw the Pirates lead in every single game. The bullpen surrendered multiple leads over the course of the series, a unit that has started the season on fire but has since slowed down quite a bit over the past week and change.
The biggest issue the Pirates face right now is offensive inconsistency, as they only put up five runs in the Mets series on 13 hits over 27 innings. Its been noticeable that their offensive strategy can either work really well, or go south quickly for them, so we’ll see what adjustments they make against Boston.
As for their opponent, Boston enters exactly .500 going into this series after losing three of four to the Cleveland Guardians throughout the week, with Cleveland currently occupying baseball’s second best record, only behind the Atlanta Braves.
Boston thus far hasn’t been headlined by their offense, but it features Tyler O’Neill, who currently has seven homers on the year and is sporting a 1.209 OPS over 48 ABs, so his start couldn’t be much better.
Other contributors include Triston Casas and Jarren Duran, who both lead the team in RBIs with nine. Durran is also the team’s batting average leader at .301, and with an OBP of .366 and seven stolen bases thus far, he could be a problem over the weekend for the Pirates.
Star third baseman Rafael Devers has has a slow start to 2024, slashing .188/.328/.375/.703 with two home runs and 5 RBIs thus far, but he is always a threat at the plate when healthy and available.
Overall, pitching has been their strength thus far as Boston enters the series with the best ERA in baseball as a team at 2.70. That is helped by having two starting pitchers in the top-10 in ERA, those being Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck, the latter throwing a complete game shutout just a few days ago.
Closer Kenley Jansen headlines the bullpen with four saves already on the season, so the Pirates could be in store for quite the low-scoring series in this one.
A matchup I want to highlight is the Pirates offense versus the Red Sox pitching, as the offense for Pirates has been slow as of late and the Red Sox pitching has played quite well, so if the Pirates can turn the tide in those departments, their chances of winning the series skyrocket.
It appears the Pirates will face all right-handers in this series as well, something that seems almost impossible with what they’ve seen to begin 2024.
The Pirates kick off the series against the Red Sox Friday night at 7:10 at PNC Park.
4/19
Pirates – Quinn Priester(RHP) – 2024 debut
Red Sox –Brayan Bello(RHP) – 2-1, 20.2 IP, 3.92 ERA, 19 Ks/5 walks, 1.21 WHIP
4/20
Pirates – Mitch Keller(RHP)– 2-1, 24 IP, 4.50 ERA, 21 Ks/7 walks, 1.46 WHIP
Red Sox– Kutter Crawford – 0-0, 21.1 IP, 0.42 ERA, 24 Ks/8 walks, 0.80 WHIP
4/21
Pirates – Martin Perez(LHP) – 1-0, 24.2 IP, 2.55 ERA, 16 Ks/7 walks, 1.26 WHIP
Red Sox– TBD
Red Sox:
Kutter Crawford – Kutter Crawford has had quite the start to his 2024 campaign. In his first four starts, he’s posted a 0.42 ERA with a 0.80 WHIP, striking out 24 batters along the way. He has also only allowed one extra base hit all season, limiting base runners pretty well to start off despite eight walks. Crawford gets the nod in the series opener.
Pirates:
Edward Olivares – Olivares has had a good start to 2024, but in his last seven games, he’s been one of the better offensive options the Pirates have had. A .280/.333/.520/.853 slash line with 2 HR and 3 RBIs over his last seven appearances is something manager Derek Shelton can look at as a positive in the offense right now that doesn’t have many positives to choose from over the past week and change.
Red Sox:
Ceddanne Rafaela – Rafaela is one of Boston’s prized young players in the outfield, but he hasn’t had the start he wished for. In 62 ABs, Rafaela has a .464 OPS, a number that is well below below average. Rafaela is only hitting .120 in his last seven games, so the Red Sox would like to see Rafaela pick it up at some point.
Pirates:
The entire offense – The Mets series was a forgetful one for the Pirates offense. After starting the season roaring on all cylinders, the offense has taken a massive step back, averaging only 3.2 runs per game over their past seven. The Pirates are also fourth in strikeouts as an offensive unit, and it seems when a couple players go cold, the entire offense follows suit. We’ll see if they can flip the switch this weekend.
Key Injuries
Rafael Devers – Devers was having a slow start to 2024, and that start has gotten worse as Red Sox’s manager Alex Cora announced that Devers has a bone bruise in his left knee after an MRI on Thursday. Cora mentioned it isn’t expected to sideline Devers long-term, but it is something to keep an eye on for the Sox.
Tyler O’Neill – O’Neill, the Red Sox home run hitter who’s had quite the season to start, hit the IL retroactive to Tuesday after a collision with Devers on Monday that required multiple stitches and a run through concussion protocol. O’Neill was replaced by outfielder Rob Refsnyder as the corresponding move.
Pirates:
Marco Gonzales – Gonzales had a good start to his 2024 campaign as a new member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, but with lingering nerve damage issues from last season, he sees the 15-day IL for the first time in 2024 with a left forearm muscle strain. He will be replaced in Friday night’s game by Quinn Priester, who’s had quite the start with the Indianapolis Indians in AAA, posting a 3.95 ERA in three starts.
Who To Watch
I would watch the Pirates starting pitching again in this series. Priester, Keller and Perez will go against a Red Sox team missing O’Neill, a banged up Devers and a team overall that leads all of baseball in strikeouts and ranks 20th in walks. Expect the trio of starters to attack early and often against the Red Sox, limit baserunners and hopefully allow the offense and bullpen to get back on track.
Steel City Pirates 