Which pitchers could the Pittsburgh Pirates face in a Wild Card game?

Aug 5, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner (40) throws a pitch against the Atlanta Braves in the second inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

As I write this, the Pittsburgh Pirates currently hold a 3.5-game lead over the Chicago Cubs for the first Wild Card spot, and a six-game lead over the San Francisco Giants for the second Wild Card spot. No, we don’t want to resign ourselves to another seat in the NL Wild Card game, but, admittedly, it will be difficult to catch the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central, as they currently hold a six-game lead over the Pirates. But if the Pirates do end up in the Wild Card game, who are some of the pitchers that they could face? There are a few different teams that could end up opposite them in that spot. Let’s break down a few aces that could oppose Gerrit Cole or Francisco Liriano on the mound at the beginning of October.

Next: Jake Arieta

Aug 4, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta (49) delivers a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Jake Arrieta – Chicago Cubs

One of the quiet aces in all of baseball over the past two seasons has been Jake Arrieta. After being acquired in a trade from the Baltimore Orioles in the middle of the 2013 season, Arieta went from bouncing between Triple-A and the majors to headlining a rotation that also happens to feature postseason star Jon Lester. This season, Arieta leads all Cubs’ starters in ERA (2.50) and strikeouts (152), and will most likely be the Cubs’ option if they made the Wild Card contest. Lester does have 84 innings of dynamic postseason experience, but Arieta has been filthy this season. If Joe Maddon values talent over experience, Arieta should have the edge.

Arieta doesn’t have any postseason experience. Then again, the Cubs don’t either, at least not in a while. But neither did many of the Kansas City Royals’ players last year. Personally, I think experience is often overrated. Talent should almost always trump experience, and Arrieta should be Maddon’s choice in a Wild Card matchup. But if the race for that second spot comes down to the final game of the season, Maddon might be forced to use Arrieta before that in a final regular season game, or in one of the last few games, so he might not even pitch in the Wild Card contest. The Cubs are lucky enough to also have Jon Lester, though, so that’s in their benefit.

We saw how Arrieta stifled the Pirate batters his last time out, tossing seven innings of two-hit, no-run ball. In three contests against Pittsburgh this season, Arrieta has a 0.86 ERA in 21 innings, averaging seven innings per start. Yeah, Pirate fans should be nervous about facing him.

Next: Madison Bumgarner

Jul 31, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner (40) pitches against the Texas Rangers during the game at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The Rangers defeated the Giants 6-3. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Madison Bumgarner – San Francisco Giants

The Giants are currently on the outside looking in on the playoff race, but we know their resilience over the past few seasons. Three World Series in five years speaks for itself, and we all know who the Giants would send out in a potential Wild Card matchup: Madison Bumgarner.

While Bumgarner hasn’t set the world on fire this season, he is still having another solid year. He leads all Giants’ starters in ERA (3.28) and strikeouts (148), and we saw what he did last year in the postseason, starting with the Pirates. Pittsburgh fans should be nervous based on last year alone. He’s also young and his best years might still be in front of him.

Bumgarner is a flamethrower and doesn’t walk many batters. The Pirates have not faced him this season and won’t again this year unless they meet in the postseason. The Pirates did, however, shell him in their only regular season matchup last year, putting up five runs in four innings against him. But Bumgarner is a lefty, and the Pirates don’t always send out the greatest lineup against lefties.

And, again, let’s not forget his complete game, 10-strikeout performance last season against the Pirates. Out of any pitcher the Pirates could face, he probably scares me the most.

Next: Max Scherzer

Aug 4, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer (31) throws to the Arizona Diamondbacks during the second inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Max Scherzer – Washington Nationals

For a good portion of this season, Max Scherzer was arguably having the best year of any starter in the majors. Right now, he leads all Nationals’ starters in ERA (2.31) and strikeouts (185), and he led the National League in ERA for a while until Zack Greinke went on his ridiculous scoreless streak. Oh, and he had a no-hitter/near-perfect game against the Pirates this year, in case you forgot or tried to erase that from your memory.

Scherzer would easily be the Nationals’ go-to Wild Card arm, hands down. The rest of the Nats’ rotation has under-performed this season to say the least, but Scherzer has shined and is in the midst of potentially his best season to date. However, when he faced the Pirates this season, he had two opposite outings. His first was the aforementioned no-hitter, but in his second contest, the Pirates tagged him for five runs on seven hits, thanks to three home runs. That was the only time all year that Scherzer gave up more than two home runs in an outing. It was also only the second time he gave up more than four runs in an outing.

So, the Pirates have shown that they can beat Scherzer. But they’ve also shown that they can be completely shut down by him. Which pitcher would show up in a postseason game? I’d lean towards the great Scherzer we’ve seen for most of this season.

Next: Jacob DeGrom

Aug 7, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom (48) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Jacob DeGrom – New York Mets

If at the beginning of the 2014 season you had asked Mets’ fans who would be their best pitcher the following season, there would probably be at least three names, and maybe more, that would have been listed ahead of Jacob DeGrom. But DeGrom now headlines a rotation that arguably would be the most talented of any in the majors in the postseason. This season, DeGrom leads all Met’s starters in ERA (2.13) and strikeouts (148), ahead of the likes of Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard. Plus, he has crazy hair. So there’s that.

DeGrom is 27, but it seems like he’s much younger. He came into the league when he was 25, and has absolutely dominated since then. He strikes out batters and has walked only 24 players this season, so you have to hit him to beat him. He also averages 6.6 innings per start, so chances are you’ll be seeing him for most of the game.

The Pirates have lucked out so far by not having to face DeGrom this year, and they’re not in line to face him when they play the Mets next weekend. So they’d most likely have to wait until a potential postseason matchup to see his stuff. Out of all of the starters the Pirates could face, he may be the biggest unknown. And that’s never a good thing.

Next: Zack Greinke

Aug 6, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Zack Greinke (21) checks a Philadelphia Phillies runner at first in a game at Citizens Bank Park. The Dodgers won 10-8. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Zack Greinke – Los Angeles Dodgers

I don’t believe the Dodgers will relinquish their lead in the NL West, but if the Giants do manage to catch them (stranger things have happened, and the Dodger lead is only at three games), watch out. I’d argue that the Dodgers would send out Zack Greinke, the probable leading candidate for the NL Cy Young right now, over Clayton Kershaw, who has a history of struggling in the postseason.

Not only does Greinke lead all Dodger starters in ERA (1.71) and WHIP (0.85), he also leads the entire National League in those categories. He doesn’t lead the Dodgers in strikeouts, but that’s just because Kershaw pitches on the same team, who leads the National League in that category. But Greinke still has 136 punch-outs, and he has a history of success in the majors. He’s also in a contract year because of an opt-out clause, so he has all the motivation in the world to continue to pitch at this high of a level for the rest of the season.

The Pirates haven’t seen Greinke yet this year, but they could face him in the middle of September for the last regular season series between the two teams. Greinke is less of an unknown than DeGrom based on the number of years he’s pitched in the majors, but he is dangerous nonetheless.

Next: What should we take away from all of this?