8-19-24 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X
Heading west hoping for better results than their last road trip as the Pirates will try building on their weekend series win against the host Texas Rangers and starting pitcher Dane Dunning.
A former first round pick, Dunning has struggled to live up to the first round hype, bouncing between rotation and bullpen over his first few major league seasons. He enters first pitch tonight with a 4.93 ERA through 82.1 innings this year but he’s been even worse than that lately with a 6.14 ERA since the start of June – 36.2 innings with 28 Ks to 16 walks in that span.
Dunning works a low-90s sinker, low-80s slider, high-80s cutter and a mid-80s changeup – none of which is overpowering or exceptional but his well above average extension helps the velocity play up some.
He works mostly sinker/slider down and in against right handed hitters while utilizing a sinker/cutter/changeup approach for lefties, running the cutter up and away while dropping the changeup down to induce ground balls.
Not a lot of good stuff here but he can eat innings and toss an occasional gem if the opposing hitters get overly aggressive. Be patient at the plate as his 10.5% walk rate is among the worst in MLB so don’t give him free strikes chasing the junk off the plate.
Additionally, baserunners are 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts against him this year after going just 8-for-16 over the past two years.
Take advantage of a struggling team still adrift after their World Series win last year.
Let’s Go Bucs!
Steel City Pirates 