Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Chicago Cubs Prediction and Pick
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Chicago Cubs Prediction and Pick
When: Thursday, September 30, 2021 – 6:35 pm EST
Where: PNC Park
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Chicago Cubs Probable Pitchers:
- Cubs: Justin Steele (3-4, 4.86 ERA)
- Pirates: Miguel Yajure (0-1, 4.85 ERA)
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Chicago Cubs Prediction
I’m not even sure if the Pirates are trying to reach 60 wins this season. At 59-99, the Pirates will send out Miguel Yajure, who has a 4.85 ERA on the season through three appearances.
Yajure has pitched 13 innings this season while allowing ten hits, seven runs, and four home runs, including five walks and ten strikeouts.
Seven of those ten hits have been for extra-base hits, with three doubles and four home runs allowed.
On the season, Yajure has a 6.02 xFIP and an 18.9 percent strikeout rate, and a 9.4 percent walk rate. Despite giving up seven runs in 13 innings, Yajure has a BABIP of .182, proving he’s been lucky to start the season.
The right-hander is only inducing 29.7 percent ground balls and giving up 21.6 percent line drives along with 45.9 percent hard contact.
Yajure has faced 31 lefties this season and has allowed a wOBA of .354 along with an ISO of .286. He’s also faced 22 righties and has allowed a wOBA of .342 with an ISO of .368.
Yajure has been bad against both sides of the plate, and there’s a reason why he’s only thrown 13 innings for the major league club this season. Right now, the Pirates have conceded and are looking for pitchers who belong on the big league club next year.
According to Yajure’s stats, he likely doesn’t belong.
The Cubs are hitting an ISO of .203 and wOBA of .365 against righties in the last 30 days. Patrick Wisdom hit the injured list, but the lineup still has plenty of power from batters 1-5.
Chicago is hitting 24.4 percent line drives in the last 30 days against righties, and while they’re striking out 24.5 percent, facing Yajure, who isn’t a high strikeout thrower, is ideal.
The Cubs lineup includes seven positional players with a wOBA above the league average, with the only player struggling being David Bote. The rest of the lineup has done damage somehow, whether that’s walking, hitting line drives, or limiting ground balls or strikeouts.
This team has talent in the lineup. They’re going to rebuild pretty quickly once they add a couple of new pieces in the offseason. So selling at the trade deadline doesn’t look so bad after all.
Look for the Cubs to shine against Yajure early and score at least three runs in the first five innings. That’s what we’ll wager on. So let’s take Over 2 in the first five innings on the team total for the Cubs. Having a 2 gives us insurance in case the Cubs only score two runs. If the Cubs score three, the wager wins, but if just two runs are scored, it’s a push, and the money wagered is back into your account.
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Chicago Cubs Pick
- Cubs Over 2 F5 TT (-130) at PointsBet
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Article Author
Jason grew up an avid sports fan. His passion for sports writing grew in high school and he developed a blog that was strictly for New York Sports. From his work, you will quickly realize that he loves looking at games from an analytical and numbers perspective and hopes to provide you with that same perspective in his articles.