Pittsburgh @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 7, 2020 ) St. Louis 0, Pittsburgh 0

With a nasty return-to-play negotiation and a near four-month delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic behind it, Major League Baseball somehow found itself on the field playing regular-season games sooner than the NBA or NHL. Teams needing to rebuild portions of their pitching staffs meet in their unusual opener Friday when the defending National League Central Division champion St. Louis Cardinals host the Pittsburgh Pirates with no fans present in the stands.

The Cardinals reached the NL Championship Series last season despite an offense that was 19th in the majors in runs scored but first in fielding percentage (.989) and most advanced fielding metrics. They have some big holes to fill, however, with hard-throwing Jordan Hicks (14 saves) out after Tommy John surgery, Giovanny Gallegos (77 innings pitched, 44 hits allowed, 16 walks, 93 strikeouts) out for undisclosed reasons and John Brebbia (72.2 innings pitched, 87 strikeouts) out after season-ending elbow surgery. The Pirates fired team president Frank Coonelly, general manager Neal Huntington and manager Clint Hurdle among others after last season's 69-93 disaster - the club's most losses since 105 in 2010. New Pittsburgh GM Ben Cherington and manager Derek Shelton will have to find replacements for two of its top starters, Jameson Taillon (rehabbing from his second Tommy John surgery) and Chris Archer (thoracic outlet syndrome surgery on June 2).

TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Jack Flaherty (2019: 11-8, 2.75 ERA) vs Pirates RH Joe Musgrove (2019: 11-12, 4.44)

Flaherty finished fourth in Cy Young voting last season after yielding the fewest hits per nine innings pitched (6.2) and walks per nine innings pitched (2.5) while finishing fourth in ERA, and he certainly appreciates the great defense behind him. “We’ve got the ultimate trust in everyone out there. It makes it huge in situations where you can get a big groundball and get a double play to get out of it. You (don't have) to be searching for strikeouts. You can let those come to you.” The 24-year-old went 1-0 in two starts versus the Pirates last season, allowing one run and eight hits with 18 strikeouts over 15 innings.

Musgrove earned his first Opening Day start after leading the Pirates in wins, starts (31) innings (170 1/3) and strikeouts (157) in 2019 for the last-place Pirates. “There’s only 30 guys in the world that get to do that every year, and to be one of them is pretty cool,” Musgrove said last week. “It’s something that every pitcher wants to experience at least once in their career, and being able to get it going into my fourth year, I hope I can carry it on through the rest of my career.” The 27-year-old, acquired from the Houston Astros in the Gerrit Cole deal in 2018, is 28-33 with a 4.37 ERA in three-plus seasons in the major leagues.

WALK-OFFS

1. Pirates OF Gregory Polanco, top 3B prospect Ke'Bryan Hayes and closer Keone Kela all tested positive for COVID-19 during July camp. C Luke Maile is out for the season after undergoing finger surgery during summer camp.

2. Legendary St. Louis Cardinals analyst Tim McCarver opted out of broadcasting this season due to health reasons. He is 78 years old.

3. Pirates OF Bryan Reynolds, acquired from the Giants in the Andrew McCutchen trade in 2018, finished seventh in the NL in batting (.314) and eighth in doubles (37) last season after starting the season in the minor leagues.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 7, Pirates 1