Brandon Lowe out of Pirates’ Lineup

The Pittsburgh Pirates will be playing the Chicago Cubs Saturday night without one of their best hitters.

Brandon Lowe is not in the starting lineup, which is a rarity.

Lowe has appeared in 96 of Pittsburgh’s games and is 1-for-3 as a pinch-hitter, which is what he’ll have to be if he appears against Chicago Saturday.

Overall, Lowe has been a big part of Pittsburgh’s offense, which has scored the second most runs in baseball. Lowe has driven in 65 of those runs, which is tied for the 14th most in baseball and is first amongst second basemen. He also has 21 home runs and an OPS of 780, which is 10 points above the league average.

But Lowe has struggled recently, hitting .143 over 21 at-bats. He’s also struggled to hit left-handed pitching all season, hitting .209. The Cubs are throwing a lefty starter in Shota Imanaga (6-8, 3.91 ERA). There are no reports of anything wrong with Lowe health-wise, so one would think that, should the Pirates find themselves against a righty reliever, Lowe would be an option to pinch-hit.

In Lowe’s usual second base position will be usual third baseman Nick Gonzales. Jared Triolo, who has spent most of his time at shortstop this year, will play third base, and Jacob Gonzalez will play short in what will be just his eighth game as a Pirate since coming over from the Chicago White Sox July 10.

Here’s the full lineup. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40.

1. CF Jake Mangum
2. 2B Nick Gonzales
3. LF Bryan Reynolds
4. RF Esmerlyn Valdez
5. 1B Ryan O’Hearn
6. DH Marcell Ozuna
7. 3B Jared Triolo
8. SS Jacob Gonzalez
9. C Henry Davis

SP: Paul Skenes (9-8, 3.43 ERA)

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