Friday, September 9, 2016

Friday: Steven Brault v Tim Adleman, Lineup, Notes

Tonight: The game begins at 7:05 and will be carried by Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan. It's a free tee giveaway night. It's also throwback night - the Bucs will be sporting Homestead Gray threads while the Reds will wear Cincinnati Tigers unis.

Pitchers: Steven Brault (0-2,3.32 ) faces Tim Adleman (2-3, 4.02). Steven's been OK, but he needs to sharpen his command more than a little. He's kept the Bucs in the games he's started, but only made it past the fifth once, issuing 10 walks in 19 IP while serving up 364 pitches to navigate those  frames, an average of 19 tosses per inning. Adleman's a pup, too, making his ninth MLB start (four were in May). He's pretty much been a five-inning guy, and has given up seven dingers in his past three outings. His first MLB start was against Pittsburgh on May 1st, and it was the best performance of his season, going six innings while giving up two runs on three hits with six K.

Steven climbs the bump tonight (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Lineup: Josh Harrison 2B, Josh Bell RF, Cutch CF, Gregory Polanco LF, Jung Kang 3B, David Freese 1B, Fran Cervelli C, Jordy SS, Brault P. Starling is still out with back issues while Bell gets another day in RF.

  • We don't think Josh Bell in the OF is really a thing, other than providing some lineup flexibility. If a full-time outfield spot would open up, we believe that Austin Meadows, not J-Bell, would be the next man up.
  • Here's the 500-win club of Bucco managers that Clint joined last night: Fred Clarke (1,472), Danny Murtaugh (1,115), Jim Leyland (851), Chuck Tanner (711) and Frankie Frisch (539).
  • The Pirates pitching leaders in wins: Jeff Locke/Juan Nicasio (9) and Jon Niese (8). Kinda mind-blowing, no?

No comments: