2020 Record

10-22, 5^th in NL Central, 9 games back of Cubs

Pitching matchups

Tuesday: Jon Lester (2-1, 4.55 ERA) vs. Chad Kuhl (1-1, 2.52 ERA)

Wednesday: Kyle Hendricks (3-4, 4.09 ERA) vs. Derek Holland (1-2, 7.62 ERA)

Thursday: TBD vs. JT Brubaker (0-0, 4.50 ERA)

Injury Report

Keone Kela, RP – 10-day injured list with right forearm tightness

Joe Musgrove, SP – 10-day injured list with triceps injury

Bryan Reynolds, LF – Placed on paternity list on Aug. 30

Outlook:

The Pirates stood pat on Monday’s trade deadline, keeping ahold of many of their assets with any real trade value and unable to move Kela and Musgrove, who were on the injured list. But that doesn’t mean the trade season didn’t bring some excitement to the Pirates.

They traded Jarrod Dyson to the White Sox for international bonus pool slot money. That freed up a spot int he lineup for top prospect Ke’Bryan Hayes, who is expected to make his major league debut Tuesday. Hayes is a consensus top 60 prospect in baseball.

The Cubs will get another look at Kuhl in Tuesday’s opener. He pitched 1.1 innings of relief in the Cubs 2-1 win on Aug. 2, allowing a run on 2 hits and a walk. Kuhl has turned into the de facto ace of the Pirates staff, pitching to a 2.52 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP in 6 appearances, 4 of them starts.

One-time Cub Holland will start Wednesday against his former team. Holland has struggled this season, sporting a 1-2 record with a 7.62 ERA in 28.1 innings. Brubaker started the year in the bullpen for the Pirates, but has started his last four appear appearances, extending out into 5 innings of work in his last outing against the Brewers.

Jacob Stallings is having a solid year behind the plate, posting a .403 on-base percentage in 23 games. Colin Moran leads the team with 6 home runs and an .851 OPS. Josh Bell has struggled in 2020, posting a lowly .606 OPS with 4 home runs.