Chicago Cubs vs Pittsburgh Pirates – Series Preview (July 25-26): Overview, Game and Broadcast Info, Starting Pitchers, W2W4
The Cubs (38-57) came out of the All-Star break red-hot and swept their opening series against the Phillies in Philadelphia. They got three quality starts on the mound out of the break and have won four in a row overall. Now they head home for a brief two-game series with Pittsburgh (40-56) before going back out on the road.
The Cubs and Pirates have already played 13 games this season with Pittsburgh going 8-5 in those matchups. The offense has been terrible for the Bucs with just Bryan Reynolds having great than a .750 OPS. The other big bat this season, Daniel Vogelbach, was just traded to the Mets.
Former Cub José Quintana has been the de facto ace for the Pirates in 2022 with a 3.70 ERA and probably is going to be traded in the next week. The rest of the pitching staff has been uneven, although David Bednar and Chase De Jong have been quite good out of the bullpen.
This is a contest between two pretty evenly matched teams, both of which are probably going to look much different after the trade deadline. This series is the final time the Cubs will be home before the trade deadline, so expect things to get very emotional the next two days. Hopefully, this is the last time for a while Cubs fans will have to say goodbye to beloved players.
Game Time and Broadcast Info
- Monday, July 25 at 7:05pm CT on Marquee Sports Network
- Tuesday, July 26 at 1:20pm CT on MLB Network (out of market only) and Marquee Sports Network
Starting Pitchers
| Date | Pitcher | Age | T | ERA | W/L | FIP | K/BB |
| 7/25 | Adrian Sampson | 30 | R | 3.34 | 0-1 | 3.64 | 2.88 |
| JT Brubaker | 28 | R | 4.02 | 2-8 | 3.73 | 2.43 | |
| 7/26 | Keegan Thompson | 27 | R | 3.43 | 7-4 | 3.76 | 2.59 |
| Bryse Wilson | 24 | R | 6.52 | 1-5 | 4.98 | 2.38 |
What to Watch For
- Christopher Morel had seven hits against the Phillies and has caught fire yet again.
- Morel’s good friend Nelson Velázquez also had himself quite a series in Philadelphia with five knocks including three home runs.
- Thompson has not pitched since July 14 as the Cubs used the All-Star break to get him extra rest.