Pittsburgh Pirates vs Chicago Cubs Predictions, MLB Picks, Betting Tips 8/2/2020

Game: Pittsburgh Pirates vs Chicago Cubs

Date: Sunday, August 2, 2020

Location: Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL

TV: MARQ/ATPT

Odds/Point Spread: Pirates (+180) Cubs (-215)

Wrigley Field is the site where Nico Hoerner and the Chicago Cubs (5-2, 1st in NL Central) will take on the Pittsburgh Pirates (2-5, 5th in NL Central) on Sunday. The Cubs open this game at -215 while the Pirates are coming in at +180. The total is set at 9.5. The expected starting pitchers are Steven Brault and Jon Lester.

Key Pittsburgh Pirates Injuries

8/1/2020 Keone Kela RP Undisclosed Expected to be out until at least Aug 1
7/28/2020 Clay Holmes RP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Aug 10
7/28/2020 Kyle Crick RP Shoulder Expected to be out until at least Aug 10
7/23/2020 JT Riddle SS Abdomen Expected to be out until at least Aug 1
7/23/2020 Luke Maile C Finger Out for the season
6/30/2020 Chris Archer SP Shoulder Out for the season
6/30/2020 Kevin Kramer RF Hip Out for the season
2/13/2020 Jameson Taillon SP Elbow Out for the season

Key Chicago Cubs Injuries

8/1/2020 Jose Quintana SP Thumb Expected to be out until at least Aug 16
7/26/2020 Brad Wieck RP Hamstring Expected to be out until at least Aug 5
7/23/2020 Daniel Descalso 2B Ankle Expected to be out until at least Sep 5

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Pirates have a 2-5 overall record this season. Brault (11-12 career win-loss record) has a FIP of 4.82 while he has faced 1,254 opposing hitters in the majors. His ERA is 4.84 (148 ER's allowed) and his WHIP is 1.567. He has conceded 288 hits (9.4 hits per nine innings) with 143 walks. Brault has pitched in 275 innings and has accounted for 235 punchouts during his career. The bullpen has an earned run average of 4.85 and they have given up 34 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .248 against the bullpen and they've struck out 33 hitters and walked 17 batters. As a team, Pittsburgh allows 7.7 hits per nine innings while striking out 9.7 batters per nine innings. They are 16th in the league in team earned run average at 4.17. The Pirates pitchers collectively have given up 46 base hits and 25 earned runs. They have allowed 7 home runs this season, ranking them 17th in the league. Pittsburgh as a pitching staff has walked 28 batters and struck out 58. They have walked 4.7 men per 9 innings while striking out 9.7 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.37 and their FIP as a unit is 4.28.

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Hitting Statistics

As a team Pittsburgh is hitting .171, good for 30th in the league. The Pirates hold a .280 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .241, which is good for 30th in baseball. They rank 30th in MLB with 5.5 hits per game. Adam Frazier is hitting .125 with an on-base percentage of .192. He has 3 hits this season in 24 at bats with 2 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .250 and an OPS+ of 25. Jose Osuna is hitting .273 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .273. He has totaled 3 hits and he has driven in 4 men in 11 at bats. His OPS+ is 127 while his slugging percentage is at .545. The Pirates have 33 hits, including 6 doubles and 5 home runs. Pittsburgh has walked 16 times so far this season and they have struck out 55 times as a unit. They have left 25 men on base and have a team OPS of .520. They score 3.83 runs per contest and have scored a total of 23 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Chicago has a 5-2 overall mark this year. Lester (191-108 career win-loss record) holds a 3.56 ERA and has given up 8.5 hits per nine innings. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.87 and he has faced 10,614 batters thus far in his career. During his pro baseball career, Lester has conceded 2,387 base knocks while accumulating 2,356 strikeouts in 2,542 innings pitched. He has allowed a total of 1,005 earned runs while earning a WHIP of 1.262 and a FIP of 3.7. The bullpen has an earned run average of 9.55 and they have given up 23 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .211 against the Cubs bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 25 batters and walked 20 opposing hitters. As a team, Chicago allows 6.6 hits per nine innings while striking out 9 batters per nine innings. They are 24th in the league in team earned run average at 5.43. The Cubs pitchers as a team have surrendered 39 base knocks and 32 earned runs this season. They have given up 9 home runs this year, which ranks 12th in Major League Baseball. Chicago as a staff has walked 27 hitters and struck out 53 batters. They give up a walk 4.6 times per 9 innings while they strike out 9 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.25 while their FIP as a staff is 5.16.

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Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .241, good for 10th in the league. The Cubs hold a .473 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .340, which is good for 7th in baseball. They rank 10th in MLB with 8.2 hits per contest. Nico Hoerner comes into this matchup batting .389 with an OBP of .368. He has 7 hits this year along with 5 RBI in 18 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .444 with an OPS+ of 131. Javier Baez is hitting .250 this season and he has an OBP of .308. He has collected 6 hits in 24 at bats while driving in 4 runs. He has an OPS+ of 148 and a slugging percentage of .583. The Cubs as a unit have 49 base hits, including 12 doubles and 11 homers. Chicago has walked 20 times this year and they have struck out on 67 occasions. They have had 41 men left on base and have an OPS of .813. They have scored 6.33 runs per game and totaled 38 runs this season.

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

Tony's Pick: Take the Cubs (-215)

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