Philadelphia can take full advantage of a bad team
As mentioned earlier, the Pirates year has been sunk just 40 games into the 2017 season.
Between Jung Ho Kang being arrested for DUI, Starling Marte suspended for PEDs, Andrew McCutchen trade rumors, and both Gregory Polanco and Gerrit Cole on the DL this team smells worse than, well, a pirate.
This could be a messy series based on how rough the cross-state rivals have played this year. Both stand on a sinking ship with little ability to bail themselves out.
Pittsburgh will send Ivan Nova, Trevor Williams, and Chad Kuhl out as their projected starters, none of which has a winning record this year.
Nothing will be guaranteed in this series, especially with two sub-.500 teams competing. I do expect the Phillies to take the first game with Jeremy Hellickson on the mound based on his aforementioned success against Pirates hitters. Vince Velasquez is a crap shoot at times with his pitch count, and Sunday will be our first look at Aaron Nola in a month.
Next: Phillies Power Ranking: 10 players most likely to be traded
First pitch from Pittsburgh on Friday is slated to be at 7:05 with Hellickson versus Williams.