6-6-2025 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X
Heading to Philly after a late-night loss has the Pirates looking to face a bullpen game with Joe Ross, who is looking to make his first start for Philadelphia. He enters play today with a 2-1 record and a 4.34 through 29 innings pitched.
Fans shouldn’t expect Ross to go too long into the game as he’s maxed out at 3 innings and 51 pitches in a game, and even that was back in April as he has been a mostly 1- or 2-inning arm for Philadelphia this season. That said, Philly will look to get as much length as they can from Ross in tonight’s affair.
Ross spent 2024 with the Milwaukee Brewers and bounced between rotation and bullpen as he started against the Pirates twice last season and pitched once in relief, compiling a total of 11.1 innings and allowing 4 runs (3 earned) off 9 hits, 2 walks and 11 strikeouts.
His pitch mix mainly focuses on his fastballs (4-seam/sinker) and slider, which has previously been a primary offering for the 32-year old veteran.
He will mix in the curve down and in or changeup running away when facing lefties but focuses on the big three pitches against righties, often locating up in the zone with the heat and running away from bats with the breaking ball.
For right handed hitters, they should look to target that slider. Ross has been prone to hanging the pitch and has allowed 2 of his 5 home runs this season off the pitch with a xwOBA of .493 for RHH when facing that pitch.
Lefties will want to focus on his heater, which will sit low-to-mid-90s and has gotten some lucky results for Ross. The numbers against LHH seem wholly unsustainable outside of small sample sizes given the expected values on the pitch.
Opponents overall have been having success against Ross’s sinker, posting a .333/.389/.606 slash line against the offering so for either side of the plate, that’s the one to attack when possible.
Ross isn’t going to target strikeouts and will look to get quick outs with soft contact and ground balls to infielders. Pirate batters will need to dig down to elevate the sinkers and sliders from Ross tonight in order to find early success and be able to battle deeper into the Philly pen.
Steel City Pirates 