PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - Every Sunday Morning Josh Taylor and producer Greg Finley break down the upcoming matchup between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the team they are facing early in that week. This week the Pirates take on the Detroit Tigers for a 2 game series at PNC Park beginnning Tuesday June 18th.
Josh and Greg: Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera is hitting .294 this season after coming off a shortened season last year to injury, where he only played in 38 games.
Josh: Starling Marte. The Pirates are going to face a couple of left handed pitchers in this series. Also Marte has been on fire in the month of June with a batting average of .379, .393 on base percentage, .638 slugging percentage, 2 stolen bases, and 3 doubles.
Greg: Bryan Reynolds. Reynolds leads all qualified rookies in batting average (.364), on base percentage (.417), and on base plus slugging (.986).
Josh: Miguel Cabrera against Francisco Liriano. Cabrera is 9-37 with 3 doubles and a couple of homeruns. He also has an OPS of .895 against Liriano.
Greg: Shane Greene in the 9th inning. Here’s a pitcher that has a career ERA 4.61, went 4-6 with a 5.12 ERA last season. This season he is 0-2 with an ERA of 1.00, he is 20 for 21 in save opportunities.
Josh: Melky Cabrera against Matthew Boyd. Cabrera is 7 for 23 against Boyd in his career.
Greg: Trevor Williams returning to the rotation Wednesday, he has held Miguel Cabrerea to 1 for 8 in his career.
Josh: Colin Moran - 8 of his last 16 hits have been for extra bases and he is slugging .607 in his last 16 games.
Greg: Clay Holmes - In his last 2 games he has pitched 3 innings, given up 2 hits amd struckout 3. He is holding opponents to .182 in those last two games.
Josh: Gordan Beckham - Hitting .286 in his last 7 games
Greg: Brandon Dixon - .287 batting average. .504 slugging percentage, 7 homeruns, and 26 RBIs
Josh and Greg: Pirates will win both games, Trevor Williams coming back is big for them, switch hitters against the left handed pitchers for the Tigers gives them the advantage.
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