Paul Skenes impending debut headlines Pittsburgh Pirates series against rival Chicago Cubs

The Pittsburgh Pirates will welcome their rival Chicago Cubs to town this weekend and the weekend series has added excitement as Paul Skenes is expected to make his Major League debut.

Pittsburgh Pirates v Baltimore Orioles
Pittsburgh Pirates v Baltimore Orioles | Mike Ehrmann/GettyImages
3 of 3

THE CUBS AT THE PLATE

2B Nico Hoerner

Hoerner has been good so far for the Cubs, slashing .373/.348/.385 with one home run and 10 RBI. He also has 11 doubles on the season and has walked 13 times with just 15 strikeouts in the process.

RF Mike Tauchman

Tauchman is the Cubs' OPS+ leader with a 138+ OPS+. This season, the 33-year-old right fielder is hitting .269/.402/.433 with three home runs and eight doubles while driving in 10. He has 21 walks to 23 strikeouts this season.

1B Michael Busch

The Cubs starting third baseman has been an extra base machine this season with six doubles and seven home runs while driving in 19 runs this season. He's hitting .256/.309/.488 this season. However, he is striking out a ton with 48 strikeouts in 125 at-bats.

CF Cody Bellinger

Bellinger recently returned from injury and is still looking to get going. He's hitting .239/.324/.467 this season with six home runs and 18 RBI. It's been a good start for Bellinger but far from the numbers he was posting last season which included a slash of .307/.356/.525.

3B Christopher Morel

Morel is off to a solid start in the home run and RBI category with eight home runs and 24 RBI but has struggled at the plate overall with a .211 batting average and .301 on-base percentage. That being said, he is walking more than ever before this season with 18 walks, halfway to his season total from last season in just 34% of the games.

Schedule