Cincinnati Reds vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction, 9/4/2020 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Cincinnati Reds vs Pittsburgh Pirates

Date: Friday, September 4, 2020

Location: PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA

TV: ATPT/FSOH

Odds/Point Spread: Reds (-175) Pirates (+161)

Mike Moustakas and the Cincinnati Reds (16-21, 4th in NL Central) are headed to PNC Park on Friday where they'll take on the Pittsburgh Pirates (10-24, 5th in NL Central). The Reds open this matchup at -175 while the Pirates are coming in at +161. The total is set at 7. The pitchers who are expected to start will be Luis Castillo and Steven Brault.

Key Cincinnati Reds Injuries

8/31/2020 Wade Miley SP Shoulder Expected to be out until at least Sep 14
8/29/2020 Jesse Biddle RP Shoulder Expected to be out until at least Sep 8
8/28/2020 Nick Senzel CF Undisclosed Expected to be out until at least Sep 8
8/24/2020 Matt Bowman RP Elbow Expected to be out until at least Sep 6

Key Pittsburgh Pirates Injuries

9/3/2020 Austin Davis RP Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Sep 4
9/2/2020 Mitch Keller SP Oblique Expected to be out until at least Sep 14
9/2/2020 Keone Kela RP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Sep 11
8/25/2020 Yacksel Rios RP Shoulder Expected to be out until at least Sep 23
8/19/2020 Phillip Evans 3B Jaw Out for the season
8/11/2020 Clay Holmes RP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Sep 21
8/6/2020 Michael Feliz RP Forearm Out for the season
8/6/2020 Nick Burdi RP Elbow Out for the season
7/23/2020 Luke Maile C Finger Out for the season
6/30/2020 Kevin Kramer RF Hip Out for the season
6/30/2020 Chris Archer SP Shoulder Out for the season
2/13/2020 Jameson Taillon SP Elbow Out for the season

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Reds have a 16-21 overall record this season. Castillo has taken the hill for 486 innings and has accumulated 541 K's so far in his pro baseball career. His ERA is 3.72 (201 earned runs allowed) and his career WHIP is 1.184. He has surrendered 401 hits (7.4 hits per 9 innings) and has had 175 walks. Castillo (28-32 mark in his career) is the owner of a FIP of 3.89 while he has gone up against 2,015 opposing hitters in the majors. The bullpen has an earned run average of 5.44 and they have given up 104 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .192 against the bullpen and they've struck out 156 hitters and walked 65 batters. As a team, Cincinnati allows 7.5 hits per nine innings while striking out 11.1 batters per nine innings. They are 16th in the league in team earned run average at 4.47. The Reds pitchers collectively have given up 256 base hits and 153 earned runs. They have allowed 50 home runs this season, ranking them 9th in the league. Cincinnati as a pitching staff has walked 142 batters and struck out 381. They have walked 4.1 men per 9 innings while striking out 11.1 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.29 and their FIP as a unit is 4.34.

Related: Get MLB predictions on all of today's games

Hitting Statistics

As a team Cincinnati is hitting .215, good for 28th in the league. The Reds hold a .408 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .316, which is good for 20th in baseball. They rank 30th in MLB with 6.6 hits per game. Mike Moustakas is hitting .214 with an on-base percentage of .333. He has 15 hits this season in 70 at bats with 10 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .314 and an OPS+ of 72. Joey Votto is hitting .239 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .352. He has totaled 26 hits and he has driven in 12 men in 109 at bats. His OPS+ is 107 while his slugging percentage is at .440. The Reds have 245 hits, including 48 doubles and 56 home runs. Cincinnati has walked 146 times so far this season and they have struck out 308 times as a unit. They have left 235 men on base and have a team OPS of .723. They score 3.95 runs per contest and have scored a total of 146 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Pittsburgh has a 10-24 overall mark this year. Brault (11-13 mark in his career) is the owner of a 4.82 ERA while giving up 9.3 hits per nine innings. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 1.62 and he has faced 1,325 hitters thus far in his career. Thus far in his career, Brault has given up 301 base hits while accumulating 248 K's in 291 innings. He has conceded a total of 156 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.560 and being the owner of a FIP of 4.8. The bullpen has an earned run average of 5.01 and they have given up 139 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .205 against the Pirates bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 160 batters and walked 80 opposing hitters. As a team, Pittsburgh allows 8.4 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.8 batters per nine innings. They are 24th in the league in team earned run average at 5.05. The Pirates pitchers as a team have surrendered 281 base knocks and 168 earned runs this season. They have given up 50 home runs this year, which ranks 10th in Major League Baseball. Pittsburgh as a staff has walked 150 hitters and struck out 294 batters. They give up a walk 4.5 times per 9 innings while they strike out 8.8 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.44 while their FIP as a staff is 5.07.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .218, good for 27th in the league. The Pirates hold a .346 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .280, which is good for 30th in baseball. They rank 27th in MLB with 7.3 hits per contest. Colin Moran comes into this matchup batting .264 with an OBP of .343. He has 24 hits this year along with 12 RBI in 91 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .549 with an OPS+ of 137. Adam Frazier is hitting .213 this season and he has an OBP of .275. He has collected 27 hits in 127 at bats while driving in 15 runs. He has an OPS+ of 62 and a slugging percentage of .323. The Pirates as a unit have 248 base hits, including 40 doubles and 33 homers. Pittsburgh has walked 96 times this year and they have struck out on 307 occasions. They have had 192 men left on base and have an OPS of .626. They have scored 4.03 runs per game and totaled 137 runs this season.

Who will win tonight's Reds/Pirates MLB game against the spread?

Tony's Pick: Take the Reds (-175)

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