Saturday's Hot and Cold Pitching Report

[Freddy Wills]

check out my play with the exciting match up of , The article will have a complete analysis on all of Saturday's hot and cold pitchers.


Well our MLB POD's have been on an awful run just 21-27 on the season with 11 of the losses by 1 run, but our MLB preview article plays have been on a 6-0 run with the Oakland A's come from behind victory on Thursday. We took a step away from our free pick article on Friday but we are back on Saturday to break down Saturday's hot and cold probable starters and give out our most deserving free play. The play comes from the bunch who has an ERA under 3.00 in their last three starts combined of which there are eight on Saturday while there are only five cold pitchers on the docket, so lets get to it.


Value here as the Pirates have been red hot until they faced the red hot Atlanta Braves and got swept. Pittsburgh got back to the victory column as they shut out the Cubs on Friday afternoon, but the Cubs will return with some revenge and their staff's ace. Samardzija has been every bit of an ace posting a 1.61 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP over his last three starts covering big boy innings of 22.1 which is over 7 per start. The Pirates offense continues to sputter now ranking 27th in OPS vs. RHP and scoring just 1.66 runs per 9 vs. RHP over their last 10 games. Samardzija in 4 career starts vs. the Pirates has given up 3 ER over 32 innings while allowing a super impressive 14 base runners for a WHIP less than 0.50. That means that on average he goes over 2 innings without allowing a Pirate on base. The sample size is large enough as the Pirates have a 115 AB and a .130 average and a .394 OPS against him.

On the flip side A.J. Burnett has been very good too against the Cubs in his career, but not as impressive as Samardzija has been against the Pirates. Burnett also has an ERA over 4 on the road this year and a 5.31 ERA on the road over the last three years combined while posting a 5.48 ERA in his last 16 starts in June. The Pirates are 3-9 in his last 12 starts as an under dog and will face a Cubs team that can swing the bat more than they showcased on Friday as they are ranked 4th in OPS at home. This is only part of my free because the Cubs bullpen has let me down so many times, but I think Samardzija will go at least 8 innings as he has 2 extra days of rest compared with Burnett who is on the regular 4.

Jose Quintana is a nice little lefty with some good speed, but often has control issues and I believe he will struggle against the A's who are ranked 3rd in OPS vs. LHP. They are also top 10 against all three of his pitches. Quintana only gave up 3 ER in Oakland's huge ball park in his last start, but he allowed 13 guys to reach base for a 2.44 WHIP which he won't be able to get away with for a second game in a row.


Max Scherzer (2-1, 22 IP, 0.64 WHIP, 2.05 ERA)
Gio Gonzalez (1-2, 20 IP, 1.10 WHIP, 2.70 ERA)
Bud Norris (2-1, 19 IP, 1.32 WHIP, 0.95 ERA)


Roberto Hernadez (2-1, 14.2 IP, 1.36 WHIP, 6.14 ERA)
John Lester (1-2, 19.1 IP, 1.60 WHIP, 6.05 ERA)
Mike Pelfrey (0-3, 13 IP, 1.77 WHIP, 6.92 ERA)
Wade Davis (1-2, 16.1 IP, 1.84 WHIP, 6.61 ERA)
Zach Greinke (1-2, 13.1 IP, 2.62 WHIP, 8.78 ERA)

Note: Today's Free pick along with all of our sports picks will be backed by our third party .