It’s been a rough month of July for both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Francisco Giants. Both teams are limping into the trade deadline, surrounded by questions.
For the Pirates, it’s the same question you could have asked in the offseason: is there anyone worth keeping besides Paul Skenes and Oneil Cruz? Right now, the answer appears to be no. Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes, once looked at as long-term pieces, have taken huge steps back. Mitch Keller belongs in a rotation, but at 29 years old, he won’t be around for any iteration of the Pirates that competes for the playoffs. Once again, they’ll sell off some pieces and try to boost the farm system.
At least it can be said that the Pirates have a clear direction. The Giants are 9-13 in the month of July, falling out of a wild-card spot at 54-53. Their offense has cratered, scoring the sixth-fewest runs in MLB over that stretch. Once thought to be clear buyers at the deadline, new reporting indicates they will now consider holding pat entirely, or mixing buying and selling. You have to earn trade deadline reinforcements to some degree; San Francisco hasn’t earned that privilege.
The San Francisco Giants are -176 moneyline favorites on the DraftKings Sportsbook. The over/under is set at eight runs. Let’s dig into a preview, prediction, and best bet for this Pirates-Giants game.
Pirates at Giants prediction, preview
Despite how bad the Pirates have been all season, it feels wrong to see the Giants at nearly two-to-one odds to win a game right now. They’re struggling to find any offense, the starting pitching has fallen apart, and their once-stout bullpen can’t hold things together. It’s no wonder their president of baseball operations, Buster Posey, is reconsidering buying at the deadline.
On top of that, Justin Verlander is on the mound tonight. San Francisco is 5-12 this year when he toes the rubber, and 49-41 otherwise. He’s not finishing at-bats or generating enough swings-and-misses to efficiently move through any lineup right now, even one as feeble as Pittsburgh’s.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh trots out Bailey Falter, who has been significantly better this season. He won’t wow you with velocity, but he’s worked out of trouble all year and kept the big innings off the board. Looking like a back-end rotation starter is a win for the Pirates as far as Falter is concerned, and that’s good enough to cause problems for this Giants team.
Right now, it’s difficult to tell these two squads apart. Even on the road, I’ll take the Pirates to win their second game in a row over these Giants.
