The Surprising Statistic That Predicts This Contest’s True Winner—And It’s Not What You Expect

We are almost at Memorial Day Weekend and that usually marks one of my favorite times of the baseball season. Nothing really says baseball like the Fourth of July, but Memorial Day is when I first went to a baseball game as a kid, so it has a special place in my heart. We aren’t at the weekend, but I’m hoping to put together a great streak before we get to relax this weekend. In order to get on that roll, I need to get a win here as the Reds take on the Pirates.

When the season started, I was doing previews and power rankings. In my opinion, I had the Reds as an average team. They currently sit at .500 and are 24-24. This is about what I expect to happen for the whole season, and before you think I’m tooting my own horn, I also thought the Orioles were going to be great as well. The Reds should be competitive, but they won’t make the playoffs as a division winner or as a Wild Card team. That is fairly unique as they are hitting well for the season with a .243 batting average, and their ERA is at 3.58 collectively. Those are the numbers of a team that probably should have a better record. They have won four in a row and are looking for a fifth tonight behind the left arm of Nick Lodolo. Lodolo is 3-4 for the season with a 3.42 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He has been terrible at home this season, but he has been very good on the road with almost a five-run lower ERA on the road than at home. Pirates hitters have been okay against Lodolo with just 12 hits in 52 at-bats. 

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