Way back on June 2, I wrote a "Today's matchup" praising the Pirates pickup of Erik Bedard (7-13, 4.76). At the time, he had a 3.12 ERA and Pittsburgh had him on a $4.5 million contract. Since that post, however, Bedard has a 6.00 ERA over 13 starts, including five earned runs in 3.2 innings against the Brewers that day. His most recent outing was just as "successful" as he allowed five earned runs in 4.2 innings against the Cardinals.
Overall on the season Bedard has a 3.90 FIP. He has been striking out 8.55 strikeouts per nine innings. Unfortunately for him, he also has a 4.02 BB/9. Bedard must be pretty happy to be at home today. He has just a .553 opponent OPS and 2.63 ERA in the friendly confines of PNC Park while he has .916 opponent OPS and 6.98 ERA on the road.
Bedard throws four pitches primarily: An 89 MPH two seamer (32%), a 76 MPH curveball (29%), an 89 MPH four seamer (25%), and a 77 MPH changeup (11%). Bedard has not yet faced a Pirates hitter at least ten times.
So far, Mark Rogers (1-1, 5.02) has given up 2, 5, 1, 5 and 3 earned runs in his five starts. He has shown flashes of being a very good major league pitcher but has also had his share of troubles. Three of his five starts have been shorter than six innings while just one has gone more than six. Rogers has put up impressive strikeoute numbers with a 9.73 K/9 so far. He also has just a 2.83 BB/9, giving him a 3.80 FIP. The rest of 2012 will continue to be very important for Rogers as he may very well be showcasing his talents for a potential rotation spot in 2013.
Rogers has not yet faced a Pirates hitter ten or more times.
As of 4:40 in the morning, the Brewers have not yet released their lineup. Weird, huh? By this point, you can probably find the lineup right here, though.
In the bullpen:
Livan Hernandez pitched two innings (33 pitches) last night.
Jose Veras pitched one inning (20 pitches) last night.
Jim Henderson pitched 0.1 innings (3 pitches) Friday.
John Axford pitched 0.2 innings (35 pitches) Friday.
Kameron Loe pitched 0.1 innings (5 pitches) Friday.
Francisco Rodriguez pitched one inning (10 pitches) Friday.
Manny Parra last pitched on Tuesday.