PIT @ CHC 8/31 8:05

Tuesday’s Pitching Matchup:

Jeff Karstens 2-10, 4.98 ERA

VS

Ryan Dempster 12-8, 3.42 ERA

Karstens missed his last start due to arm fatigue, Daniel McCutchen took his start in the rotation. Karstens has passed his total innings pitched from 2009 already so the Pirates will be careful with Jeff the remainder of the season. Karstens surrendered seven runs off 11 hits against the Mets his last trip to the mound on 8/20. In his last three starts, Jeff is 0-3 with a 8.40 ERA.

Dempster has a 1.66 ERA in his last 21.2 innings pitched. Ryan won against the Nationals his last time out, pitching seven scoreless innings, gave up just two hits and struck out eight. Dempster is having a great month of August with a stingy 1.31 ERA.

 

Pirates Lineup:

Andrew McCutchen CF

Jose Tabata LF

Neil Walker 2B

Garrett Jones 1B

Pedro Alvarez 3B

Ryan Doumit RF

Ronny Cedeno SS

Chris Synder C

Jeff Karstens P

 

Cubs Lineup:

Blake Dewitt 2B

Starlin Castro SS

Marlon Byrd CF

Aramis Ramirez 3B

Xavier Nady 1B

Alfonso Soriano LF

Tyler Colvin RF

Koyie Hill C

Ryan Dempster P

 

 

• As of right now, Charlie Morton will remain in the Pirates lineup –atleast until his start on Saturday.

One of the primary issues in Morton’s troublesome 3 1/3-innings return from the Minors on Sunday was the degree to which the righty relied on his offspeed pitches. For a guy who has overpowering ability, Morton’s dependency on his secondary pitches has been baffling.

Though Morton’s problems have been much more pronounced this year, his use of his fastball has actually decreased in each of the past two seasons. In 2008, 64.6 percent of Morton’s pitches were two-seam or four-seam fastballs. In 2009, that percentage dipped to 56.7. This year, it’s at 52.2 percent, meaning that Morton is going away from the fastball on about every other pitch he throws.

Morton’s lack of aggressiveness on Sunday was mostly his own doing. He shook off catcher Ryan Doumit repeatedly early on, before Doumit began playing into Morton’s less aggressive game plan later in the outing. 

(Bucs want Morton to be more agressive- Pirates.com) 

“As a catcher, it’s tough when you’re being shaken off by the pitcher,” Russell said. “You’re trying to get what he wants to do because you don’t want him to shake, but you also know what you want to do, so it’s a battle.

“[Doumit] kind of wanted Charlie to throw a game and see what he’s doing, and let him kind of take the game and see where he took it. Now we have a pretty good indication of what we need to focus on, not only with his pitches, but also with the mental part.”