9-14-24 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X
After a rough start to the weekend series, the Pirates will look to rebound against former divisional foe in Michael Wacha.
Wacha has played Pittsburgh 18 times in his career with a 3.68 ERA through 95.1 innings – though that’s not including his performance in Game 4 of the 2013 NLDS where he held the Pirates to 1 run through 7.1 innings of work, critically preventing the Pirates from their first postseason series victory since 1992 – a streak that still persists.
He is experiencing a solid season in his first year in Royals blue, posting a 3.34 ERA and 12-7 record over 151 innings pitched out of the rotation with 130 strikeouts to just 40 walks.
Wacha had a bit of a rough start to his KC tenure, posting a 5.15 ERA through his first 8 games, but since May 14th has a 2.60 ERA over his 18 starts in that span.
Similar to his rotational counterpart from yesterday, Wacha’s best pitch is his changeup – which averages in the low-80s and is used nearly a third of the time and has an oBA of just .171.
He also offers a mid-90s fastball/sinker, high-80s cutter, mid-80s slider and mid-70s curve – though none has produced results close to his changeup, which has the third highest Run Value, per BaseballSavant.
Main Goal: Lay off the changeup. It has generated 71 of his 130 strikeouts and when put in play, has an average exit velocity of 81.4 MPH and is put on the ground at a 42.3% clip.
Look to attack fastballs and hanging breaking stuff. His 4-seam has an oBA/oSLG of .300/.483 and the expected values are even higher at .314 and .515, respectively.
Though he hasn’t faced the Pirates since 2019, that 2013 outing still cuts deep for Bucs fans. Fight fastballs and find redemption today.
Let’s Go Bucs!
Steel City Pirates 