Thursday, May 3, 2018

Pirates-Nationals Close Out Series, Willy v Hellickson & Notes

Today: It's getaway day in DC with first pitch due at 1:05. The game will be aired by the MLB Network and 93.7 The Fan.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Gregory Polanco RF, Starling Marte CF, David Freese 1B, Corey Dickerson LF, Elias Diaz C, Colin Moran 3B, S-Rod SS & Trevor Williams P. Eli, Freeser & S-Rod are on the getaway day card, and Fraze is back. Starling got his day off; J-Bell is the last Bucco to get a blow. Still, we can't figure why Clint won't adjust his lineup; Fraze is on the second-baseman's leadoff line, Freeser was slid into Bell's cleanup spot, Eli into Cervy's six spot and Sean into Jordy's eight hole.

Willy looks to be the stopper today (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Pitchers: RHP Trevor Williams (4-1, 2.29) concludes the set v RHP Jeremy Hellickson (0-0, 4.11). Willy will try to salvage a game; he's been Mr. Consistent (he's been the poster child for six-inning, two-run starts) for the Bucs, with a formula of soft contact, few homers, lotsa walks and a handful of whiffs working so far. For stat combers, he has a .222 BABIP and 3.68 FIP, so the data churn says he's due to regress. He's faced the Nats once, and it wasn't pretty -  a run on a hit and two walks in 2/3 IP in 2016. Hellickson replaced a struggling AJ Cole in the rotation and has been middle-of-the-road by performance, but better than his miserable 2017 campaign. He's been quite good against the Pirates with a 3-1/2.86 line in five starts. His outing last year with the Phils lasted six innings and he gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits.

Notes:
  • Elias Díaz has hit safely in each of his first seven starts this season, going 15-for-27 (.556) with a pair of home runs.
  • : The Pirates have scored a total of 149 runs coming into today, which ranks tied for fifth in MLB.
  • MLB Trade Rumors Jeff Todd takes a look at the NRI pitchers who were available this year and how they're doing. Everyone, it seems,was on Tyson Ross, but a couple of other guys are filling in back end roles competently. 

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