Pirates vs Padres Prediction - MLB Picks 7/26/23

The Pittsburgh Pirates and San Diego Padres face off on Wednesday in an MLB showdown at Petco Park. The two teams have split the first two Games of the series. 

Padres, Nothing but Disapointing

Has there been a more disappointing team in baseball than the Padres? This is a team that has spent a ton of money in the last couple of offseasons, but that hasn’t resulted in the wins. With an offense with Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis, and Manny Machachdo, they haven’t been good enough. As a team they are averaging 4.54 runs per Game. If the Padres want to turn around the season, others outside of those three are going to need to step up. One of the only bright spots for the Padres this season has been the pitching which is ranked 3rd best in the league. In the first Game of the series though Yu Darvish gave up seven runs, and that led to the defeat. On the mound for the Pirates will Johan Oviedo who sits with a 3-11 record and an ERA of 4.77. In his last start against the Angels he went four innings and gave up five runs. 

Inconsistent Pirates

The Pirates have shown some signs of life this season, that maybe they are turning around the franchise, but they have just been too inconsistent. Over the weekend against the Los Angeles Angels they were swept, but on Monday against the Padres they scored eight runs, and showed how good they can be. Carlos Santana has been an afterthought since joining the Pirates, but he has been a key driving in 52 RBIs. On Monday he had three hits, two runs, and four RBIs. The Pirates are averaging 4.17 runs while their pitching is giving up 4.87 runs per Game. If they want to have a big second half, and win this Game, the offense will need to be good. On the mound for the Padres will be Seth Lugo who sits with a 4-4 record and an ERA of 3.72. The Padres have lost four of the last six starts by Lugo.