The Pittsburgh Pirates (74-74) travel to Chicago, Illinois, for a regular season game at Wrigley Field tipping off at 2:20 PM EDT on MLB.TV. It is a rare contest where both offenses are so statistically indistinguishable—Pittsburgh batting .253 and Chicago .252—that you might need a magnifying glass to find the advantage. We are watching two teams try to prove that below-average hitting is a valid competitive strategy, which feels less like a baseball game and more like a collaborative exercise in mediocrity.
Bubba Chandler (RHP, #36) faces Matthew Boyd (LHP, #16), whose 4.03 ERA holds a small respect advantage over Chandler’s 4.25 mark. The team ERAs are neck-and-neck with Pittsburgh at 4.18 and Chicago at 4.20, meaning the decision will likely fall to whichever bullpen doesn’t spontaneously combust first. That could get difficult for the visitors, as fifth wheel options Kirby Yates and Braxton Ashcraft are both resting their legs on the 15-Day IL, leaving the late-inning door wide open for whatever creative chaos the bench delivers, so pick your side and let’s see who blinks first on StreakChat.