Pirates SP Paul Skenes Takes the Mound vs. Cubs in Chicago

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00:00Some day baseball on this Friday in Chi-Town at the Friendly Confines, and it's basically a

00:06pick-em. Why? Paul Skeens gets the start for the Buccos. Skeens Day 38 in the history of MLB.

00:14Total seven Skeens on the bump. Which way are the winds blowing in the Windy City?

00:20Yeah, blowing in a little bit today, which doesn't help. But again, that doesn't say that

00:23there's an eight-mile wind blowing in. Nobody can hit home runs or get any base hits here.

00:26That's not the case. The question's going to be, can you get those hits and base hits

00:29off of Paul Skeens? He's been fabulous. On the card today, fourth overall, a 67 XFIT minus,

00:34an ERA of .74. Now, here's the give and the take here. Skeens is tremendous, but so is that Cubs

00:40lineup against right-handed pitching over the past month. Outside of Reese McGuire, who's going to

00:44bat probably ninth today, every single batter is a plus with weighted on base percentage against

00:49righties. Now, granted, not your average right-handed pitcher. It is Paul Skeens. Now, flip it over.

00:53How many times have you heard me say, it's O'Neal Cruz and nobody in that lineup? Things are

00:59starting to change over because those bats are starting to wake up over the past month,

01:02particularly against right-handed pitching. O'Neal Cruz, Andrew McCutcheon, Brian Reynolds,

01:06Nick Gonzalez, Adam Frazier, Henry Davis, and Isaiah Kiner-Falefa, all above average against

01:12right-handed pitchers over the past month. That's seven out of nine batters we're looking at plus.

01:16So for me, I look and say, all right, Pittsburgh's not a great team, but they're on the road.

01:20Skeens, I do believe, is the better pitcher. And a lineup that could be comparable to the Cubs

01:24today? Come on now, give me Pittsburgh and Skeens out there. Let's go.