Willy v Daniel Ponce de Leon, Lineup & Notes

Game: Opening pitch is slated for 7:05 with the first of four games on AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. It should be a cool and cloudy evening, with the rain clearing out well before gametime.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Bryan Reynolds RF, Starling Marte CF, Josh Bell 1B, Colin Moran 3B, Corey Dickerson LF, Kevin Newman SS, Elias Diaz C, Trevor Williams P. Maybe the cool temps will heat up the sticks.

Willy has been de-bugged - photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates

Pitchers: RHP Trevor Williams (3-3/5.17) opens against RHP Daniel Ponce de Leon (1-0/2.80).  Willy has been a mess since returning from the IL - in his latest four starts, he's 1-2/9.53, giving up 37 hits (including eight homers) in 22-2/3 IP. But Trevor was tough enough in his first 2019 outing against the Redbirds, winning 2-1 despites scattering nine hits over seven innings.  He missed his Saturday start with the flu, and hopefully after bouts with the bug and the steamy weather, he's got his strength back. Ponce de Leon made it through 3-2/3 IP and gave up four runs last week in his last start against the Pirates while allowing 10 runners to reach (eight hits, two walks). It's his sixth start of the year and his peripherals are all good, so we'll see if last outing was an outlier or the league punching back.

Notes:

• Steven Brault threw a bullpen session today and still has some work to do; no word on the status of Keone Kela, who tossed back-to-back for the first time yesterday.
• Since the break, the Bucs have dropped 7-of-9 while the Cardinals have won 6-of-9, including 2-of-3 from the Bucs last week. The series has been hard fought, with the Redbirds up 5-4.
• 1B Calvin Mitchell of Bradenton was selected as the Florida State League POTW.
• Expect a little ruder treatment than yesterday's trespasser got if you decide to interlope on the field. PNC security took a lot of heat for its slow response and should be fired up to tackle future uninvited visitors.