6-27-2025 – By Josh Poe – @DaRealHanYolo on X
The Pirates welcome the New York Mets to PNC Park this weekend. Pittsburgh will look to right the ship after four straight series losses. The Mets are somewhat in the same boat as they have been struggling lately as well. New York 3-10 over their last 13 games and are now fighting with the Phillies for first place, dropping from a comfortable 5.5 game lead a few weeks ago to just a 0.5 game margin heading into this series.
The Mets’ most significant issue at the moment has been rotation health. With Griffin Canning going down yesterday, the Mets are now without three of their starters, and their offense has been very streaky lately. Can the Bucs take advantage?
On the other hand, the Pirates have not been playing their best lately. There have been some bright spots, namely Nick Gonzales.
It has gotten lost with all the Oneil Cruz drama this past week but Nicky G has been swinging a hot stick lately. His approach has looked much better, he is cutting down his strikeout rate and he is batting .400 with a 1.023 OPS over the past week so maybe he is emerging. And one more quick shoutout to Tommy Pham, who has had a horrible year, but this week has seen his best play with three multi-hit games. I just want to give Tommy some love. Additionally, can we continue to provide Henry Davis with consistent playing time?
6/27
Mets: David Peterson (L) 5-3, 2.98 ERA, 90.2 IP, 78 K, 31 BB, 1.24 WHIP
Pirates: Mitch Keller (R) 1-10, 4.02 ERA, 94.0 IP. 73K, 24 BB, 1.22 WHIP
6/28
Mets: Paul Blackburn (R) 0-2, 6.62 ERA, 17.2 IP, 13 K, 7 BB, 1.75 WHIP
Pirates: Bailey Falter (L) 6-3, 3.59 ERA, 85.1 IP, 51 K, 31 BB, 1.18 WHIP
6/29
Mets: Frankie Montas (R) 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.0 IP, 5 K, 3 BB, 1.20 WHIP
Pirates: Mike Burrows (R) 1-2, 4.45 ERA, 30.1 IP, 30 K, 9 BB, 1.32 WHIP
Mets: Juan Soto – This feels a bit of a cop-out since it’s Juan Soto, but here we are. Soto, in his last 7 games, has been outstanding. He is batting .348 with 5 HRs and 8 RBIs. He is leading the charge for this Mets lineup. His overall June has been excellent, as he is hitting .325 with 10 HRs and 18 RBIs. He is a generational talent, so expect him to have a significant impact on this series.
Pirates: Dennis Santana and David Bednar – Can I do two? It’s my series preview, so I say yes. These two have been a real bright spot lately. Santana hasn’t given up a run since June 3rd. Since that date, he has allowed just 3 hits in 9.2 innings. He truly deserves to be an all-star with how good he’s been this year. Bednar has also been excellent, regaining that all-star form. He has been outstanding in June, having surrendered just one run, which wasn’t even earned. He has thrown 9 innings and has given up 3 hits and has struck out 14. These two have both been a very pleasant surprise.
Mets: Luis Torrens – In such a stacked lineup, it’s hard to find a sore spot. But, the Mets recently optioned their young catcher, Francisco Alvarez, as he was struggling, leaving Torrens as the starter. The results haven’t been impressive. In June, he is batting a mere .098, which is only 41 ABs and just 2 RBIs, but with Alvarez in the minors now, Torrens is the guy.
Pirates: Isiah Kiner-Falefa – IKF was having a fantastic May batting over .340, but in June, he has been struggling to hit the ball. He is batting just .200 with only 2 extra base hits. Now, the whole team is having a hard time hitting, but he was doing solidly and is now just struggling to do so. With no power, his skills are to get hits, and he hasn’t been able to do that lately. He did have two hits in Milwaukee, so hopefully he can regain that form from May.
Mets: Griffin Canning (DTD), Jesse Winker (60 Day), Sean Manaea (60 Day), Mark Vientos (10 Day), Kodai Senga (15 Day), Jose Siri (60 Day), Max Kranick (15 Day), Aj Minter (60 Day), Rafael Ortega (7 Day), Tylor Megill (15 Day)
Pirates: Johan Oviedo (60 Day), Ryan Borucki (15 Day), Endy Rodriguez (60 Day), Tim Mayza (60 Day), Colin Holderman (15 Day), Jared Jones (60 Day), Justin Lawrence (60 Day), Enmanuel Valdez (60 Day)
Notes
- The Pirates signed Genesis Cabrera to replace an injured Borucki, so look for Cabrera to make his debut with the team this weekend.
- Cutch is currently tied with Juan Pierre for 184th on the all-time hit list as he continues to climb the leaderboard of this illustrious chart.
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