Pirates vs Cubs Picks and Prediction – 9/19/2023

The Pittsburgh Pirates open a three-game series on the road Tuesday versus the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Pittsburgh improved to 70-80 following its 3-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Sunday. Pittsburgh has won four of the last six but the Pirates are 14 ½ games behind first in the National League Central and eight games behind the third and final NL Wild Card qualifying spot. Make sure you stay up to date with all the MLB action with our expert MLB Picks.

Left fielder Bryan Reynolds is batting .272 with 77 RBIs, 144 hits and an on-base percentage of .333 to lead Pittsburgh in each category. Center fielder Jack Suwinski is the leader in home runs with 25. The Pittsburgh Pirates have not announced their starting pitcher for the opening game of a three-game series on the road versus Chicago.

The Chicago Cubs dropped to 78-72 following their 6-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday. Chicago was swept in its three-game series with Arizona and the Cubs have lost five straight. Chicago is second in the National League Central, 6 ½ games behind first place and Chicago is currently tied with Miami for the third and final NL wildcard spot.

Center fielder Cody Bellinger is batting .311 to lead Chicago and has team highs in home runs with 25 and RBIs with 91. Second baseman Nico Hoerner is the leader in hits with 167 and left fielder Ian Happ is the leader in on-base percentage with .360. On Tuesday, the Chicago Cubs will send Javier Assad to the mound. The right-hander is 3-3 with a 3.10 ERA and 71 Ks.