6-19-2025 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X
The Pirates have already dropped 5 of 6 on the road trip but are hoping to avoid being swept in game 2 of the double-header in Detroit, who projects to be another lefty to start in Tyler Holton.
Holton enters play with a 4.09 ERA over 33 innings pitched this season and, although he has started a couple games this season, he’s only maxed out at 2 innings and 35 pitches in games so it’s likely a bullpen game for Detroit.
He has a varied pitch mix and excels at avoiding barrels to induce weak contact though he’s gotten bit by the long-ball this year as he has allowed 6 already after surrendering 7 over 94.1 innings last season.
As indicated above, he relies heavily on his fastballs, mainly dispatching the cutter and changeup against righties and the sinker/sweeper combo against lefties.
He is going to fill up the zone (just 8 walks against 29 strikeouts this season) and will stay low in the zone. Right-handed hitters should look to attack the changeup – against which they are currently batting .320 and slugging .600.
If any lefties face him, they should target the breaking pitches. Hilton’s sinker has an opponent batting average of just .192 compared to .368 against his sweeper with a .421 slugging percentage.
After Holton, it’s a crapshoot as they’re facing a bullpen which ranks among the worst in baseball entering today over the last few weeks (4.97 ERA in June ranks 25th in MLB over that time).
If there’s any hope of avoiding the sweep, it’s a strong Skenes start and a solid performance against a poor pen.
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