Free MLB Pick: Pirates vs Reds Odds
Looking for Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cincinnati Reds free mlb predictions? MLB betting sees the Pirates taking on the Reds on Thursday, May 24, 2018 at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all MLB baseball matchups all season long so stay tuned for more FREE daily MLB predictions like this Pirates Reds free pick.
2018 MLB Season
(26-21) Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cincinnati Reds (17-32)
Date: Thursday, May 24, 2018
Time: 12:35 PM ET
Venue: Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati, OH.
Projected Starters: Nova vs. Castillo
MLB Moneyline Odds: Reds -128 | Pirates +118
MLB RunLine Betting Odds: OFF
MLB Baseball Gambling Total: 8½
Live MLB Odds
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Pittsburgh Pirates
Ivan Nova has struggled to start his second full season as a Pirate, at least compared to his first season-and-a-half.
You know you can count on Nova not to walk guys; but that hasn’t always been the case. It started when he came over to Pittsburgh from New York in the middle of 2016.
Nova had averaged about three walks per nine innings in his career as a Yankee and was as 2.3 per nine in 2016. Then he walked three in nearly 65 innings as a Pirate to close 2016 and walked 1.7 per nine in a full 2017.
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When a guy starts walking fewer batters, you assume he’s sacrificing something. But Nova’s strikeouts didn’t go down, nor did his hits allowed go up. In fact, both numbers got better.
This year, the walks per nine number remains elite (1.3) but he is giving up more hits. His ERA is just about the same as last season but pitching is up this season so his ERA+ is worse.
Either we’ll see Nova’s numbers improve as the sample builds or the hitters around the league are having more trouble with a different breed of pitcher.
Cincinnati Reds
Before this series started on Tuesday night, the Pirates were one of four teams in the Central to be within two games of one another.
Cincy won the opener so now Pittsburgh is three games back. I can’t figure out how it’s even that close. The Pirates aren’t particularly talented and the three teams ahead of them are really quite good. I do expect Pittsburgh to fade at some point.
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The Reds will stay underground, though. The pitching is brutal and the offense, frankly, can only get worse. What if Joey Votto were to get hurt or slump?
That guy is amazing and the team still stinks. It sure would be nice to see him in some high leverage postseason at-bats before he turns 40.
MLB Baseball Betting Trends:
- Under is 22-7-3 in PIT last 32 Thu. games.
- PIT are 4-10 in their last 14 road games.
- PIT are 5-14 in Novas last 19 road starts.
- CIN are 1-7 in their last 8 Thu. games.
- CIN are 8-24 in their last 32 home games.
- Over is 5-2-2 in CIN last 9 overall.
- Head to Head: Under is 8-2 in the last 10 meetings.
Free Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cincinnati Reds MLB Prediction: Nova, by default.
I wouldn’t drink any crazy amount of juice in this game but Nova may be somewhere close to a pick. If that’s the case, take him.
4* Free MLB Betting Pick: Pirates ML
MLB Free Score Prediction: Pittsburgh 5 – Cincinnati 3
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