Starter Spotlight: Get Out Of Park-er

9-7-24 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X

Lefty number 2 on this weekend as the Pirates face off against another rookie southpaw in Mitchell Parker, who has a 4.27 ERA with 117 strikeouts and 35 walks over his 132.2 frames pitched this season. Hopefully, they fare better than game 1 today.

He works with a low-90s 4-seamer, low-80s curve, mid-80s splitter and a low-80s slider. He’s not quite as deceptive as Herz but can still avoid bats and keeps hitters off base.

His fastball has been the most hittable of his offerings with an xwOBA of .359 – more than 60 points higher than the next highest.

He has also been AWFUL playing away, as his home ERA (3.04 in 77 innings) is nearly three runs lower than away (5.98, 55.2 IP). 

Pirates hitters will want to stay on the heat, try not to chase junk out of the zone and get ahead early so they can get back into attack-mode against the Nationals bullpen.

Let’s Go Bucs!