Sports are fun for many reasons, but one main reason is that we expect one thing and then get something different. The idea that on any given night an underdog can beat a favorite, or that a bench player can have a career night, is what makes them so engaging. It can be incredibly frustrating as a sports bettor, but as a fan, it is awesome. As a sports bettor, there are a lot of people frustrated by these two teams and pitchers from this season as the Giants take on the Pirates.
The San Francisco Giants are one of the worst teams in baseball, which is quite surprising. The Giants are 57-81 for the season, and with their next loss, they will guarantee they are going to have a losing season. It was pretty unlikely they would go undefeated this month, but they are likely to lose between 90 and 95 games. This is another team in the league with plenty of talent, but they just couldn’t put it together. Can it be blamed on their manager? The front office? Or is it just a lack of success from the pitching and offense combined?
I’d put most of the blame on the pitching staff as they carry a 4.34 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP into today’s game. As usual with this pitching staff, the lone bright spot has been Logan Webb. This season, Webb is 8-8 with a 3.72 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. He is in a bad situation tonight, though. On the road, he has a 4.16 ERA, and in night games, he has a 4.98 ERA. Both are worse than his home and day starts. He did have a rather strong August with only one bad start. In four outings, he allowed four earned runs over 26 innings. In the lone bad start, he allowed five earned runs in 2.2 innings. The Pirates hitters haven’t been great against him, with just 12 hits in 58 at-bats.
The Pittsburgh Pirates were expected to compete for a Wild Card spot this season, but it hasn’t gone as expected. The team is just four games under .500, so they still have a chance to end the season at .500 or better, but the chances of them making the postseason are slim. The hitting has improved, and that is a big reason for the improvement overall for the team this year. However, the pitching staff hasn’t performed as well as needed this season despite having high hopes.
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It is easy to have high hopes for the team when you have the reigning Cy Young leading the roster. However, it has been a bit of a disaster season for Paul Skenes. Look, a lot of pitchers would love to have Skenes numbers – 9-11 record, 3.79 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, and 175 strikeouts. The WHIP and strikeouts are the better numbers, but his ERA and record are a bit rough. In his young career, this 3.79 ERA is two full runs higher than it was in his first two seasons. Skenes has been better at night and at home this season, so maybe he is in his optimal spot here. He had a decent August, going 20.1 innings over four starts and allowing just seven earned runs.
This is the first time Giants hitters are facing Skenes, so he definitely has an advantage. It almost seems improbable that no one on their roster has had an at-bat against him. If you’re looking for a player prop, I would consider under 0.5 hits for Bryan Reynolds or Oneil Cruz – both are strikeout-prone and don’t make a ton of contact against Webb. My favorite prop, though, is to take under 6.5 strikeouts from Skenes. The Giants don’t strike out a ton, and Skenes doesn’t go overly deep into games, as the team is probably trying to conserve him for next year.
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