Ryan Dempster has been red hot to start the year over 4 starts he carries a 0.95 ERA, but he has faced some of the worst OPS teams when it comes to their rankings vs. RHP. They are ranked 18, 19, 23, 22nd while the Braves are 9th in OPS vs. RHP and they are 6th in OPS on the road. Braves are scoring 5.88 runs per 9 vs. RHP over their last 10 games while the Cubs are at just 3.89. Dempster has been using three pitches and the Braves are ranked in the top 10 in all three including being ranked 6th vs. fast ball and #1 overall over the last 7 days against the fastball. Braves have plenty of experience vs. Dempster and should be able to get on base.
ON the flip side Delgado has been unlucky to start with a .321 BABIP and carries a 3.72 xFIP. He primarily uses his fastball 70% of the time where the Cubbies are ranked 24th. Cubs are also ranked 21st in OPS vs. RHP. No Cub has an AB vs. Delgado something that should work to his advantage early. I expect the Braves to bounce back from their loss yesterday and for hte Cubs to lose again.
Pittsburgh is last in the league in hitting vs. RHP with a .618 OPS while the Nationals are 22nd and getting worse. Now they are without possibly Laroche again, Werth, Morse, Zimmerman, and Derosa. This is a depleted line up and AJ Burnett has been solid against a pair of good hitting teams. This should be a game decided late by both teams bullpens. Luckily both teams bullpens have been solid with 2.76 ERA for the Pirates and 3.47 ERA for the Nationals. The under is 15-5-1 in the Pirates last 21 home games vs. RH starters and 46-22-9 in their last 77 games facing a starter with a WHIP under 1.15. Both pitchers have above average velocity on their fastballs while both teams have struggled to hit the fast ball. This should set up well for the pitchers to get ahead in counts all day long.
