Ji Hwan Bae absent for Pittsburgh Wednesday in first game

The left-handed hitting Bae is not in the lineup against a lefty, but he will likely be back in there against a right-hander in the second game. Michael Taylor will start in center field and bat eighth. Edward Olivares will man right field and bat out of the cleanup spot for Pittsburgh.

numberFire's models project Taylor for 7.7 and Olivares for 6.9 FanDuel points on Wednesday. Per our MLB Heat Map, the Pirates' implied total (3.02) and the game total (6.5) are both the worst of the day. Among qualified pitchers this season, Skubal rates between the 89th 94th percentile in xERA, xBA, whiff rate, strikeout rate, walk rate, and hard-hit rate.