Pittsburgh Pirates vs Cincinnati Reds Prediction, 9/22/2023 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Pittsburgh Pirates vs Cincinnati Reds

Date: Friday, September 22, 2023

Location: Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, OH

TV: Bally Sports Ohio

The Pittsburgh Pirates (71-81) are headed to Great American Ball Park on Friday where they will meet the Cincinnati Reds (79-75). The expected starting pitchers will be Luis Ortiz and Andrew Abbott.

As a squad, the Pittsburgh Pirates are scoring 4.2 runs/g, which ranks them 23rd in the league. They are sitting with 642 runs scored and hold an on-base percentage of .313. The Pirates have accounted for 265 doubles as a unit and have hit 150 balls out of the stadium. They have 617 runs batted in and 1,198 base knocks this season, and their batting average is sitting at .237. Pittsburgh has a slugging rate of .390 and have struck out 1,355 times, while taking a walk on 517 occasions.

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They have earned a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.29 and their pitching staff has a collective WHIP of 1.38. Pirates pitchers have conceded 166 home runs and also 740 runs in total (21st in the league). Pittsburgh has allowed 1,296 hits (8.7 per 9 innings) and 682 earned runs. The Pirates have an ERA of 4.57 this year (21st in the league), and the staff has rung up 1,275 hitters. Their pitching staff has walked 557 players from the other team and their FIP sits at 4.38 as a team for the year.

The Pirates have dispatched 488 relievers to the mound this year. The relief pitchers have inherited 222 runners for the season with 33.3% of those runners ended up scoring. They have earned 43 saves for the season and have blown 19 of their 62 chances to save the game. The Pirates bullpen have a save rate of 69.4% and stepped onto the hill in 145 save situations. The relief pitchers have 80 holds this season (16th in MLB). Pirates relief pitchers have gone to the mound with players on base 149 times as well as having 154 appearances in high leverage situations.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a total of 4,025 putouts so far this season, in addition to 1,301 assists and 85 errors. Their fielding percentage is holding at .984 which has them ranked 20th in MLB, and have accumulated 123 double plays. The Pirates have turned 68.6% of balls in play into outs out of 12,075 innings on the diamond, ranking them 19th in pro baseball.

Ortiz has thrown 94 innings and has accumulated 67 strikeouts during his MLB career. Ortiz (4-7 win-loss record in his career) is the owner of a FIP of 5.39 and he has faced 430 opposing batters in the major leagues. His earned run average is 4.79 (50 ER's allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.628. He has surrendered 99 hits (9.5 hits per nine innings) and has had 54 free passes.

The Reds have a team slugging percentage of .410 and they average 4.68 runs per game (12th in MLB). They have recorded 249 two-baggers, while getting a free base 524 times as well as racking up 720 runs. Cincinnati has recorded 178 home runs so far this season as well as 686 runs batted in. They have been rung up on 1,423 occasions (5th in the league) and have 1,284 base hits. The Cincinnati Reds are sitting with an on-base percentage of .324 as well as a team batting average of .247 so far this year.

The Reds have a team WHIP of 1.406 in addition to having a FIP of 4.77 as a team on the year. Their strikeout to walk ratio is 8.70 (1,318 strikeouts against 579 walks). They are sitting at 24th in the league as a pitching staff in total hits relinquished with 1,347. They have surrendered 211 homers and they concede 5.04 runs per 9 innings (23rd in the league). The Cincinnati pitching staff have relinquished 767 runs for the season while having an ERA of 4.73 (720 earned runs relinquished).

Sitting with 166 save situations, the Reds have compiled 87 holds in addition to 23 blown saves. Cincinnati has called on relief pitchers to step onto the mound in 74 save chances and they have tallied 51 saves. Their relievers have stepped onto the mound 231 times in high leverage situations and also on 209 occasions with base runners. Cincinnati bullpen pitchers hold an inherited score percentage of 29.3% out of 300 inherited runners. They sit at 5th in MLB holding a save rate of 68.9%, and they have dispatched 568 relievers to the mound for the season.

Out of their 12,333 innings on the diamond, the Reds have earned a efficiency on defense of 68.7% (18th in MLB). The Cincinnati Reds have turned 118 double plays and hold a fielding percentage of .984 (22nd in pro baseball). The Reds have 1,224 assists, 87 errors and have accumulated 4,111 putouts this season.

In his pro baseball career, Abbott has allowed 88 base hits while he has tallied 112 strikeouts in 102 frames. Abbott (8-5 mark in his career) holds a 3.68 ERA while conceding 7.7 hits per nine innings. He has conceded a total of 42 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.266 and a FIP of 4.1. His K/BB ratio is 2.67 and he has gone up against 429 batters thus far in his career.

Who will win tonight's MLB game against the spread or moneyline?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Pittsburgh

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