KC @ PIT

Sunday · September 20, 2026·full·gamePk 823329past slate · free
refreshed 123h 49m ago both lineups confirmed

weather · PNC Park

gametime 1:35 PM EDT · open-meteo
temperature
75°F
humidity 83%
wind
10 mph
out to LF
precip
26%
overcast
park
PIT
open · HP→CF 115°
CFHP1B3BOUT
wind impact on total
+0.17 R/Gminor out

Minor wind out: +0.17 R/G vs neutral. _PNC's riverside location + grandstand pattern creates swirl in RF; calm most days_

opener / bulk pattern
  • PIT: Lake Bachar opens → bulk: Carmen Mlodzinski· predicted bulk based on 2/44 prior short outings

both opener + bulk shown side-by-side below — lineup matchup keys to the bulk pitcher (who batters see for most of the game)

openers + bulk pitchers · IP-weighted 2025+2026

metricMichael WachaRHP · KCLake BacharRHP · opener · PITCarmen MlodzinskiRHP · bulk · PIT
xERA 20263.903.504.93
xwOBA 20260.3050.2900.339
wOBA−xwOBA 2026-0.005-0.005-0.030
xERA 20254.164.484.07
xwOBA 20250.3160.3270.313
Outs/TB 25-262.022.262.01
FIP 25-263.974.393.51
kwERA 25-263.933.593.95
K% 25-2618.6%25.4%19.3%
BB% 25-266.4%10.2%7.3%
IP 25+26 combined361.3153.3216.7
ERA actual 20263.343.503.90
ERA (L4)2.422.169.45
WHIP (L4)0.921.322.48
K% (L4)22.5%25.0%9.9%
BB% (L4)6.9%13.9%11.3%
IP/gm (L4)6.502.083.33
L4 window08/28→09/15 (4 st) · 4/4 dates verified08/29→09/15 (4 st) · 4/4 dates verified05/25→08/17 (4 st) · 4/4 dates verified
Stuff+ last 3 (Δ szn)100 (+2)92 (−5)91 (−1)
SIERA last 3 (Δ szn)5.37 (+0.90)5.12 (+0.60)5.93 (+1.29)
Arsenal RV/1000.400.800.07

away arsenal — KC

RV/100 0.40
  • 4-Seam Fastball—+0.80xwOBA 0.327
  • Changeup—+1.60xwOBA 0.220
  • Cutter—+0.10xwOBA 0.349
  • Sinker—-0.20xwOBA 0.374
  • Curveball—-1.20xwOBA 0.311
  • Slider—-1.00xwOBA 0.301

home arsenal · BULK Carmen Mlodzinski — PIT

RV/100 0.07
  • 4-Seam Fastball—-1.00xwOBA 0.373
  • Split-Finger—+1.40xwOBA 0.273
  • Sinker—-0.70xwOBA 0.407
  • Curveball—+0.00xwOBA 0.324
  • Sweeper—+1.20xwOBA 0.264
  • Cutter—+0.20xwOBA 0.412
  • Slider—-0.80xwOBA 0.333

away · KC vs RHP

confirmed
Σ xwOBA
2.776
Σ match
3.011
Σ FRV
+11.7
#posbatterxwOBAmatchFRV
13BMaikel Garcia0.3120.339+5.2
2SSBobby Witt Jr.0.3770.395+15.3
3DHJac Caglianone0.3550.372-7.7
41BSalvador Perez0.3090.349-9.7
52BMichael Massey0.3070.324+7.6
6RFNick Loftin0.2930.316-1.8
7LFJohn Rave0.3150.338+1.4
8CLuke Maile0.2130.256+2.5
9CFTyler Tolbert0.2950.321-1.1

home · PIT vs RHP

confirmed
Σ xwOBA
2.927
Σ match
2.913
Σ FRV
-9.3
#posbatterxwOBAmatchFRV
1SSKonnor Griffin0.3060.300-3.7
22BBrandon Lowe0.3290.347+11.6
3LFBryan Reynolds0.3530.354-4.5
4CFOneil Cruz0.3520.354+1.8
53BNick Gonzales0.3260.321-9.4
6DHRyan O'Hearn0.3160.314-3.0
7CRafael Flores Jr.0.3440.336-0.5
81BSpencer Horwitz0.3120.306-3.9
9RFJake Mangum0.2890.280+2.3

defense · KC catcher (Savant FRV)

Luke Maile
  • FRV+2.5
  • framing+2.4
  • blocking+0.4
  • throwing-0.3

defense · PIT catcher (Savant FRV)

Rafael Flores Jr.
  • FRV-0.5
  • framing+0.7
  • blocking-0.8
  • throwing-0.4

KC · Michael Wacha

Last outing 2026-09-15 vs HOU · 6.0 IP

MetricPrior gamesLatest (Δ)Last 3
Stuff+98101(+3)100
Location+102104(+3)96
Pitching+100101(+1)95
botStf4846(-2)48
botCmd5754(-3)54
botOvr5351(-2)51
SIERA4.475.79(+1.32)5.37

Last 3 starts: 2026-09-03 → 2026-09-15. 3/3 outings have verified ratings.

Latest botERA 4.56

Prior games = unweighted average before 2026-09-15; SIERA here is an average of game ratings, not aggregate season SIERA. Stuff+ family: 100 average. PitchingBot: 50 average. Lower SIERA/botERA is better.

PIT · Carmen Mlodzinski

Last outing 2026-09-16 vs MIL · 2.0 IP

MetricPrior gamesLatest (Δ)Last 3
Stuff+9187(-4)91
Location+10582(-23)107
Pitching+9672(-24)98
botStf4646(-1)47
botCmd5544(-11)56
botOvr5142(-9)52
SIERA4.656.80(+2.15)5.93

Last 3 starts: 2026-08-07 → 2026-08-17. 3/3 outings have verified ratings.

Latest botERA 6.16

Prior games = unweighted average before 2026-09-16; SIERA here is an average of game ratings, not aggregate season SIERA. Stuff+ family: 100 average. PitchingBot: 50 average. Lower SIERA/botERA is better.

Bullpen depth chart · per side

Derived = season-usage role from pitcher-profiles.json. Card tag = what tonight's card thinks. When they disagree, the sim picker may target wrong arms in save windows. Mean IP/app distinguishes 1-IP relievers from bulk arms.

KC · bridge (non-closer, 6-8)8 arms · kwera
0.50R / inningband [0.45–0.54]
0.117 R/PA · 0.165 R/out · worst: Lucas Erceg (5.23)
PIT · bridge (non-closer, 6-8)10 arms · kwera
0.42R / inningband [0.33–0.50]
0.098 R/PA · 0.139 R/out · worst: Khristian Curtis (5.57)

KC

PitcherDerivedCardFIPK%BB%Mean IPSV/HD/GFTrend
Alex LangeCLOSERMR5.2421.911.51.0310/3/20stable
Lucas ErcegCLOSERSU5.4314.913.50.9612/4/24stable
Connor ThomasBULKMR5.7415.58.23.670/3/0insufficient data
Steven CruzOPENERCL5.2626.08.31.067/5/7stable
Jose CuasMRMR2.6923.913.01.270/4/4ramping down
Nolan HoffmanMRMR3.6212.28.21.560/3/2insufficient data
Spencer BivensMRLR4.8926.713.31.000/1/1insufficient data
Anthony GoseunknownMR2.5611.12.8—0/2/0—
Nate PearsonunknownMR3.4121.511.3—4/6/0—

PIT

PitcherDerivedCardFIPK%BB%Mean IPSV/HD/GFTrend
Gregory SotoCLOSERSU3.3727.710.20.9915/12/21stable
Luke WeaverSETUPSU3.0726.16.51.051/22/4stable
Yohan RamírezSETUPMR3.4327.512.51.282/9/8stable
Carmen MlodzinskiBULKMR3.6617.78.03.982/6/3ramping down
Khristian CurtisBULKLR4.7614.115.55.000/0/0insufficient data
Mason MontgomeryOPENERCL2.3237.39.90.9715/9/7stable
Brandon EisertOPENERMR3.6626.77.21.050/2/5stable
Lake BacharOPENERMR4.5125.410.31.532/2/10stable
Wilber DotelMRMR2.9623.89.42.130/3/1stable
Antwone KellyMRLR4.9114.39.52.170/0/1insufficient data
Camilo DovalMOP_UPMR4.3223.312.00.901/8/10stable

glossary

Pitcher metrics

  • xERA (Savant): Statcast's expected ERA, derived from xwOBA. Strips defense/luck — what the pitcher's contact quality says he should have given up.
  • xwOBA (Savant): Expected wOBA. Treats each batted ball by exit velo + launch angle (independent of where defenders stood). Lower = better for pitcher.
  • wOBA-xwOBA (Savant): Actual minus expected. Negative = the pitcher has been UNLUCKY (better than results show). Positive = LUCKY (worse than results show).
  • Outs/TB: Outs recorded ÷ total bases allowed. Custom efficiency metric. Higher = more efficient. Starter range typically 1.5–3.0.
  • FIP: Defense-independent ERA estimator using only K/BB/HBP/HR. Removes BABIP luck. Same scale as ERA.
  • kwERA: Strikeout-and-walk-only ERA estimator. 5.40 − 12·(K−BB)/PA. Strips contact entirely. K-BB% is the most stable pitcher skill.
  • K% / BB%: Strikeouts / walks as a share of total batters faced.
  • IP (25+26 combined): Total innings across the prior + current season — defines the IP-weight on combined stats.
  • Arsenal RV/100 (Savant): Run Value per 100 pitches, weighted across the pitcher's mix. POSITIVE = stuff playing well for the pitcher. Substitute for FanGraphs Stuff+.

Batter metrics

  • AVG/OBP/SLG: Standard slash line, current season.
  • vs L/RHP AVG/OBP/SLG (PA): Same line, but only against pitchers of the hand the batter is facing tonight. PA = sample size — small samples (<50 PA) are noisy.
  • xwOBA / xBA / xSLG (Savant): Statcast expected stats for the batter, based on contact quality.
  • xwOBA(25) (Savant): Last year's xwOBA. Useful when current-year sample is thin.
  • FRV (Savant): Fielding Run Value. Range + arm + framing + blocking + DP turns. Cumulative — early-season values are small.
  • Match xwOBA: Projected weighted xwOBA against this specific pitcher's pitch mix. Per pitch (with usage %), look up batter's xwOBA vs that pitch type, weighted average.
  • Cov%: Share of opposing pitcher's pitch usage where we have direct batter-vs-pitch data. Lower coverage = less reliable matchup score.

Lineup status

  • 🟢 CONFIRMED: Posted by the team via MLB Stats API. This is the actual lineup playing.
  • 🟡 EXPECTED: Projected from the team's last 21 days of starts vs the same handedness, with current IL filtered out. Refreshes ~T-90 min before first pitch.

Data sources

  • MLB Stats API (statsapi.mlb.com): schedule, lineups, raw counting stats (K/BB/HR/IP/AVG/etc.), L/R splits.
  • Baseball Savant (Statcast): xERA/xwOBA, pitch arsenal, Fielding Run Value, expected stats. Descriptive only — no projection system.
  • Baseball Prospectus: DRC+ + PECOTA when authed.
  • Open-Meteo: Weather forecast rotated to the park.

Post-game

actual vs projected
Final total
7
3 KC · 4 PIT
Projected total
—
Delta
—
actual − projected
Band cover
—

KC

3 R

9H · 1HR · 1BB · 8K · 12LOB

OBPe 0.278 · SLGe 0.371 · K% 22.2

Their pitching

8.0 IP · 4 ER · 9 K · relief 2.3 IP · 6 arms

PIT

4 R

8H · 2HR · 5BB · 9K · 18LOB

OBPe 0.342 · SLGe 0.485 · K% 23.7

Their pitching

9.0 IP · 3 ER · 8 K · relief 8.0 IP · 5 arms

KC · standout lines

big nights
  • Vinnie Pasquantino (PH) · 1-1 | HR, 2 RBI, RHR
tough nights
  • Maikel Garcia (3B) · 0-4 | K0-for-4
  • Michael Massey (2B) · 0-4 | K0-for-4

PIT · standout lines

big nights
  • Oneil Cruz (CF) · 1-4 | HR, RBI, RHR
  • Rafael Flores Jr. (C) · 2-3 | HR, 2B, BBHR
tough nights
  • Nick Gonzales (3B) · 0-4 | K0-for-4
sources · MLB Stats API · Baseball Savant · Baseball Prospectus · Open-Meteo · reference, not picks