Pittsburgh Pirates vs Atlanta Braves Prediction, 5/20/2021 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Pittsburgh Pirates vs Atlanta Braves

Date: Thursday, May 20, 2021

Location: Truist Park in Cumberland, GA

TV: Bally Sports South

Odds/Point Spread: Pittsburgh (+175) Atlanta (-233)

Drew Smyly and the Atlanta Braves (19-23, 3rd in NL East) host the Pittsburgh Pirates (17-24, 5th in NL Central) at Truist Park on Thursday. The moneyline on this game has the Pirates coming in at +175 and the Braves are at -233. The over/under is set at 9. The men taking the mound will be Wil Crowe and Drew Smyly.

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Pittsburgh has a slugging percentage of .344 and have struck out 352 times, while being walked on 130 occasions. They have compiled 132 RBI's as well as 309 hits for the season, while their batting average is .227. The Pirates have tallied 69 doubles as a unit and have knocked 26 balls out of the park. They are sitting with 140 runs scored while holding a team OBP of .302. As a unit, the Pittsburgh Pirates are notching 3.4 runs per contest, which puts them at 30th in MLB.

Pirates pitchers have given up 44 home runs and also 187 runs in total (18th in the league). Their pitching staff has walked 140 players from the other team and their FIP sits at 4.11 as a team on the season. Their strikeout to walk ratio is 2.49 and the pitching staff has earned a collective WHIP of 1.28. The Pirates have compiled a team ERA of 4.35 for the season (20th in the league), and their staff has rung up 348 hitters.

The Pirates bullpen have recorded a save rate of 85.7% and has come into the game in 29 save situations. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 53 base runners so far this season and 26.4% of them crossed home plate. Pirates pitchers have stepped onto the hill with runners on 35 times in addition to having 35 appearances in high leverage situations. The Pirates have dispatched 143 relief pitchers to the hill on the season. The relief pitchers have recorded 20 holds over the course of the season (18th in baseball). They have recorded 6 saves on the campaign and have blown 1 of their 7 chances to save the game.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have 1,068 putouts over the course of the season, in addition to 385 assists and 26 errors. Their fielding percentage sits at .982 which has them ranked 20th in baseball, and they have twisted 295 double plays. The Pirates have turned 70.0% of baseballs in play into outs in their 3,204 innings on the diamond, which has them sitting at 13th in pro baseball.

Crowe has taken the hill for 29 innings and has totaled 25 punch outs during his career. Crowe (0-4 win-loss mark in his career) has a FIP of 6.74 and he has gone up against 135 opposing batters during his time in the majors. His ERA is 6.52 (21 earned runs allowed) and his WHIP is 1.724. He has given up 32 base knocks (9.9 hits per 9 innings) and has had 18 walks.

The Atlanta Braves have accounted for an OBP of .308 and a team batting average of .225 over the course of the season. They have been called out on strikes on 387 occasions (11th in the league) and are sitting with 308 base hits. Atlanta has 62 home runs for the season as well as 185 RBIs. The Braves have a team slugging % of .413 and they are earning 4.55 runs per game (12th in baseball). They have 59 two-baggers, while walking 146 times and putting up 191 runs.

The Braves are sitting with a team WHIP of 1.396 and have a FIP of 4.47 as a pitching staff on the year. They have a ranking of 25th in the league as a staff in total hits conceded with 357. The Atlanta pitching staff have conceded 209 runs on the season while having an ERA of 4.60 (188 earned runs conceded). Their strikeout to walk ratio sits at 2.46 (386 strikeouts vs 157 free passes). They have surrendered 56 home runs and they concede 5.11 runs per 9 innings (24th in MLB).

With 41 save situations, the Braves have earned 26 holds and also 6 blown saves. Atlanta has had relievers step onto the mound in 14 save chances and they have tallied 8 saves. Their relief pitchers have stepped onto the mound 69 times in high leverage situations and also on 41 occasions with base runners. Atlanta relievers have an inherited score percentage of 29.0% out of their 62 inherited base runners. They are ranked 18th in baseball with a save rate of 57.1%, and they have dispatched 156 bullpen pitchers to the hill on the year.

Out of their 3,315 innings on the diamond, the Braves have earned a efficiency on defense of 68.4% (24th in the majors). The Atlanta Braves have turned 28 double plays and have a fielding rate of .987 (5th in MLB). The Braves have recorded 383 assists, 20 errors and have a tally of 1,105 putouts over the course of the season.

Smyly (37-37 career mark) has a 4.17 ERA while allowing 8.5 hits per nine innings. His strikeout to walk ratio is 3.12 and he has faced 3,110 batters during his career. He has surrendered 344 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.262 and having a FIP of 4.2. In his MLB career, Smyly has surrendered 699 hits while earning 740 punch outs in 741 innings.

Who will win tonight's MLB game ATS?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Atlanta (-233)

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