The Pittsburgh Pirates take on the Chicago White Sox this afternoon in the deciding game of a three game series. The Pirates won their home opener on Friday, but lost yesterday in an 11-5 contest.
The bottom half of today’s lineup features four players with a strikeout rate over 30% in the young season. Rodolfo Castro picked up two hits yesterday, but is striking out 31% of the time. Jack Suwinski is at 35%, Ji-Man Choi is at 44%, and Canaan Smith-Njigba is at 62%.
The Pirates are going up against Michael Kopech, who struggled in his first time out. We’ll see today whose struggles continue: Kopech or the bottom of the Pirates’ order.
PIRATES VS WHITE SOX
Game Time: 1:35 PM EST
Pirates Starter: Johan Oviedo (0-0, 7.71)
White Sox Starter: Michael Kopech (0-1, 13.50)
Pirates Lineup:
The series finale.
White Sox Lineup:
Series finale in Pittsburgh! pic.twitter.com/9T5RNGrTEy
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) April 9, 2023
TODAY ON PIRATES PROSPECTS
**My daily column looks at the Middlegame to the Pirates’ 2023 season.
**Jason Gindele looks at the prospects who bring the best hitting skills into the 2023 season. Abrahan Gutierrez ranked high on the list, as if the Pirates need more catching depth. Gutierrez is starting in Greensboro, with Henry Davis in Altoona and Endy Rodriguez in Indianapolis.
**Anthony Murphy writes about the encouraging day at the plate from Maikol Escotto. The infielder, acquired in the Jameson Taillon trade, struggled last year in his first trip to Greensboro. He made some strides in the Dominican this offseason, and as a result is one of the deep sleepers that I picked to follow at the start of the year.
**John Dreker has the latest Pirates minor moves, with Braxton Ashcraft and Kent Emanuel joining Bradenton.
**Ben Cherington gave an update on Mike Burrows, who left yesterday’s Indianapolis game early.
**Check out the recap from yesterday’s Pirates loss, as well as our nightly Prospect Watch with all of the nightly minor league action.
**In my column yesterday, I looked at the Pirates of the Middlegame.
