How the Pittsburgh Pirates Match Up with the San Francisco Giants
October baseball is on the horizon, and for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the opportunity to make a deep run into the playoffs has never been greater.
The Pirates will play host to the San Francisco Giants Wednesday night in the National League Wild Card Game.
This is it. One game will decide which team will move on to the Division Series, where the Washington Nationals are waiting.
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Volquez vs. Bumgarner
The Pirates will send Edinson Volquez to the mound Wednesday night in Pittsburgh. After reviving his career with a 13-7 record and a 3.03 ERA in 2014, Volquez is also looking for some personal redemption.
Volquez's only career postseason appearance was a forgettable one. In 2010, he lasted just 1.2 innings while allowing four earned runs en route to a loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
In all fairness to Volquez, he really had no chance to earn a victory that day, as Roy Halladay hurled a no-hitter.
Still, the fact that he was unable to pitch out of the second inning that night has to be something Volquez is looking to put behind him and bounce back from.
According to Tom Singer of MLB.com, Volquez is looking forward to the challenge.
"I'd be very proud to get the ball. It's what I've been talking about since early in spring training, hoping to get this kind of opportunity," Volquez said.
Volquez has undoubtedly been the staple of the Pirates' rotation in 2014, which is why it is so fitting that manager Clint Hurdle decided to trust him with the team's season on the line.
In his last 17 starts, Volquez is 9-1 with a 1.87 ERA. The only pitcher in baseball who has had a lower ERA over that stretch is Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Meanwhile, Giants manager Bruce Bochy has elected to go with his ace, Madison Bumgarner.
In 33 starts this season, Bumgarner was 18-10 with a 2.98 ERA. He has been hot as well, going 8-2 over the final two months of play.
Bumgarner did not fare well in his only start against the Pirates in 2014, allowing five earned runs over 4.0 innings pitched on July 28. The Pirates shut out the Giants that day, winning 5-0.
Overall, the Pirates won four out of the six games they played against the Giants in 2014.
Those are both good signs for the Pirates, but in a one-game playoff, anything can happen, and the pressure is on both of these pitchers to perform well enough to help their respective teams advance.
Lockdown Bullpens
When Pirates starting pitchers have handed the ball over to the bullpen, it has been hard to beat them in 2014.
With a bullpen consisting of Jared Hughes (63 games, 1.96 ERA), setup man Tony Watson (78 games, 1.63 ERA) and closer Mark Melancon (72 games, 1.90 ERA, 33 saves), the Pirates have maintained leads when given the opportunity.
For the Giants, the goal has to be to get to Volquez early, or else they could be in deep trouble if he hands the ball over to the bullpen with the lead.
Closer Santiago Casilla has pitched brilliantly in 2014, earning 19 saves while pitching to an ERA of just 1.70 in 54 games with the Giants.
Setup man Jean Machi has also pitched well in 2014, going 7-1 with a 2.58 ERA in 71 games.
Then there is Jeremy Affeldt, who pitched to a 2.28 ERA in 62 games out of the bullpen for the Giants in 2014.
Overall, the Giants ranked fifth in baseball in 2014 with a bullpen ERA of just 3.01 in 154 games. The Pirates, on the other hand, ranked ninth with an ERA of 3.28.
A bullpen can make or break a team, and whichever team trails late in the ballgame Wednesday night will have the difficult task of getting to the opponent's relievers.
Offensive Matchups and Projected Lineups
On the offensive standpoint, both teams have played pretty equally over the regular season. The Pirates ranked fourth in the National League with 682 runs scored. The Giants finished right behind them in fifth place with 665 runs scored.
Still, the Pirates may be at one disadvantage heading into what they hope is not their last game of the season Wednesday night.
Catcher Russell Martin has been the heart and soul of this Pirates team in 2014. Offensively, Martin has had one of the best seasons of his career, batting .290 with 67 RBI in 110 games played.
Defensively, Martin has guided the pitching staff with his brilliant play-calling behind the plate.
Unfortunately for the Pirates, Martin injured his hamstring during the last week of the regular season, forcing him to miss the team's final two games.
According to Michael Hurcomb of CBS Sports, Martin told reporters Tuesday that he expects to be in the lineup Wednesday evening.
The Pirates need Martin to be healthy enough to play through the postseason, as his veteran presence behind home plate is hard to match.
Meanwhile, the Giants have two-time World Series champion catcher Buster Posey.
Posey has emerged as one of the best catchers in the game over the last few seasons, and 2014 was no different.
In 147 games played this season, Posey batted .311 with 22 home runs and 89 RBI, leading his team in both of those offensive categories.
Providing that Martin does stay healthy enough to play, however, we will see two well-balanced teams go head to head, which is what every baseball fan wants to see when the postseason rolls around.
Aside from Martin, the Pirates will have reigning National League Most Valuable Player Andrew McCutchen patrolling center field for them.
McCutchen put out another great season in 2014, batting .314 with 25 home runs, even though he missed 16 games.
The Giants, on the other hand, received bad news when Dayn Perry of CBS Sports reported that starting center fielder Angel Pagan would miss the remainder of the season and undergo back surgery.
According to the depth chart on the Giants' team page, Juan Perez is their starting center fielder. Perez batted .170 with 25 strikeouts in 100 at-bats this season for the Giants.
However, according to Aaron Gleeman of NBC Sports, the Giants will elect to start Blanco in center field and put Perez on the bench.
Then there is left field, where Starling Marte has thrived for the Pirates. In 135 games played in 2014, Marte batted .291 with 13 home runs and 56 RBI.
According to the same article by Gleeman, the Giants will counter with former Pirate Travis Ishikawa, who has started just three career games in the outfield.
In 47 games with the Giants in 2014, Ishikawa batted .274 with two home runs in 73 at-bats.
In right field, Hurdle will likely elect to start Travis Snider over rookie Gregory Polanco.
Polanco has had a tough time adjusting to the majors, batting .235 in 89 games played for the Pirates. On the other hand, Snider has played well for the Pirates, batting .264 with 54 extra-base hits in just 322 at-bats.
The Giants' strongest asset in the outfield is their right fielder Hunter Pence.
Pence played in every game for the Giants in 2014, batting .277 with 20 home runs. Pence has been one of the most consistent players in the league, missing just two games over the last three seasons and zero over the last two years.
Then there is Josh Harrison, who surprisingly was arguably the Pirates' most valuable player in 2014.
In 143 games played, Harrison batted .315 with 13 home runs and 52 RBI. Harrison finished second behind Justin Morneau of the Colorado Rockies in the race for the league batting title. Finishing third was teammate Andrew McCutchen.
Pablo Sandoval will handle the hot corner for the Giants. In his seventh big league season, Sandoval batted .279 with 16 home runs in 157 games played. He has managed to stay healthy, which is what plagued him and his team over the last two seasons.
As far as the shortstop position, the Pirates and Giants are pretty equally matched.
Since going just .161 over his team's first 34 games, Jordy Mercer has turned his season around and become a dangerous threat at the plate toward the bottom of Pittsburgh's lineup.
Mercer managed to finish the season with a .255 batting average and 12 home runs. Twelve of his 55 RBI have come in the month of September.
Brandon Crawford will play shortstop for the Giants. A fourth-year player, Crawford set new personal single-season highs with 10 home runs and 69 RBI.
The Pirates have one of the best second basemen in the league in veteran Neil Walker, who was born in Pittsburgh.
For the first time in his career in 2014, Walker surpassed the 20-home run mark, blasting 23 total bombs on the year. He batted cleanup in the order throughout the entire month of September, and he drove in six runs over the Pirates' final four regular-season games, giving him 76 total RBI on the season.
Walker has provided added protection to the Pirates' lineup while hitting in the cleanup spot, which they needed after slugger Pedro Alvarez went down with his foot injury.
Although Scott White of CBS Sports reported that Alvarez could still possibly return for the National League Division Series, the Pirates only have one thing in mind: earning a victory on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Giants will likely counter with rookie second base standout Joe Panik, who has looked like a seasoned veteran in his first major league season.
In just 73 games with the Giants, Panik collected 82 hits while driving in 18 runs and helping the Giants reach the postseason for the first time since 2012, when they won the World Series.
According to a report from Baseball America, Panik was ranked ninth among all prospects in the Giants' organization heading into the 2014 regular season.
At first base, Hurdle will have to decide whether to start Ike Davis or Gaby Sanchez.
Since being acquired by the Pirates in a trade with the New York Mets, Davis' numbers have slightly increased. He batted .205 with 33 RBI in 2013, his last full season as a member of the Mets. In 2014, Davis has batted .235 with 51 RBI.
Still, that is no comparison to his 2012 season, when he hit 32 home runs and tallied 90 RBI.
Over the final seven games of the season, Davis collected just three hits while driving in zero runs in 16 at-bats.
The other option is Gaby Sanchez, who has not played better than Davis. In 262 at-bats this season, Sanchez batted .229 with seven home runs and 33 RBI.
Given the fact that Bumgarner is a lefty, however, Hurdle may be smart in starting Sanchez over Davis.
In 133 at-bats against left-handed pitchers in 2014, Sanchez batted .256. Davis, on the other hand, batted just .094 in 32 at-bats this season against southpaws.
The Giants were happy to get Brandon Belt back as their everyday first baseman. Belt had been sidelined in May due to a broken thumb that required surgery.
In 61 games played, Belt batted just .243 with 27 RBI. However, over his final six games played during the regular season, Belt collected eight hits and three RBI, as he has gotten hot at the right time.
So, the Giants and Pirates both have offenses capable of doing damage as well as starting pitching that can last deep into ballgames.
As both teams have played pretty evenly throughout the season, this game has all the makings of a classic.
Here is the projected lineups for both teams:
Giants
- Gregor Blanco, CF
- Joe Panik, 2B
- Buster Posey, C
- Pablo Sandoval, 3B
- Hunter Pence, RF
- Brandon Belt, 1B
- Brandon Crawford, SS
- Travis Ishikawa, LF
- Madison Bumgarner, P
Pirates
- Josh Harrison, 3B
- Travis Snider, RF
- Andrew McCutchen, CF
- Neil Walker, 2B
- Russell Martin, C
- Starling Marte, LF
- Gaby Sanchez
- Jordy Mercer, SS
- Edinson Volquez, P
When the Pirates take the field at home Wednesday night, expect there to be as much excitement as ever in Pittsburgh.
The Pirates have made the postseason for the second straight year, but they know that that is not enough, as they will begin their quest for a World Series title (their first since 1979) Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.
As for the Giants, the quest will begin for the organization's third World Series title in the last five seasons.
For one team, Wednesday night will be the end of the line, and the Pirates are hoping that that is not the case for them, as they set out to chase something that is certainly attainable.
*Statistics courtesy of BaseballReference.com and MLB.com
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