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Tigers at Pirates Prediction: Odds, expert picks, starting pitchers, betting trends, and stats for July 21

Tigers at Pirates Prediction: Odds, expert picks, starting pitchers, betting trends, and stats for July 21

Yahoo5 days ago
It's Monday, July 21 and the Tigers (60-40) are in Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates (39-61). Jack Flaherty is slated to take the mound for Detroit against Paul Skenes for Pittsburgh.
The Tigers became the first team in the league to reach 60 wins as Detroit beat the Rangers, 2-1 on Sunday Night Baseball. That win avoided a reverse sweep to Texas and the test doesn't get an easier when they travel to Pittsburgh to face the CY Young favorite.
Pittsburgh is coming off a series where they were swept by the White Sox and outscored 27-7 (sigh). As a Pirates fan, this is the only day of the week we look forward to — Skenes day.
Let's dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two. We've got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
Follow Rotoworld Player News for the latest fantasy and betting player news and analysis all season long.
Game details & how to watch Tigers at Pirates
Date: Monday, July 21, 2025
Time: 6:40PM EST
Site: PNC Park
City: Pittsburgh, PA
Network/Streaming: FDSNDT, SNP
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
Odds for the Tigers at the Pirates
The latest odds as of Monday:
Moneyline: Tigers (+102), Pirates (-122)
Spread: Pirates -1.5
Total: 7.0 runs
Probable starting pitchers for Tigers at Pirates
Pitching matchup for July 21, 2025: Jack Flaherty vs. Paul Skenes
Tigers: Jack Flaherty, (5-9, 4.65 ERA)Last outing: 5.0 Innings Pitched, 2 Earned Runs Allowed, 4 Hits Allowed, 2 Walks, and 7 Strikeouts
Pirates: Paul Skenes, (4-8, 2.01 ERA)Last outing: 5.0 Innings Pitched, 2 Earned Runs Allowed, 5 Hits Allowed, 0 Walks, and 6 Strikeouts
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Expert picks & predictions for tonight's game between the Tigers and the Pirates
Rotoworld Best Bet
Please bet responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.
Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Monday's game between the Tigers and the Pirates:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is staying away from a play on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Detroit Tigers at +1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the over on the Game Total of 7.0.
Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC.
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Tigers at Pirates
The Pirates have lost 10 of their last 11 games
The Under is 4-1 in the Tigers' last 5 road games
The Pirates are 9-11 in Skenes' 20 starts
Skenes has allowed 2 earned runs or less in 17 of 20 starts
The Tigers are 6-13 in Flaherty's 19 starts
If you're looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:
Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
Trysta Krick (@Trysta_Krick)
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Which Active MLB Players Have a Shot at the Baseball Hall of Fame?
Which Active MLB Players Have a Shot at the Baseball Hall of Fame?

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Which Active MLB Players Have a Shot at the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Anyone can debate which retired players should enter the Baseball Hall of Fame. Their careers are wrapped up, all the evidence is already there. Active players are where the real game is. So let's look at which ones have the best shot of reaching Cooperstown, from oldest to youngest. Now, we'll be reasonable: we're not going to say that 23-year-old, second-year Paul Skenes is a surefire Hall of Famer if only he can keep it up for another 15 seasons or so. You already know as much! These candidates are those in their 30s and have strong cases. Let's look at what those players still need to do — if anything — to convince Hall of Fame voters years from now. All statistics are through July 24, 2025. Justin Verlander (42 years old, 20 seasons, 80 bWAR) Verlander might not have much left in the tank these days, but that's not a problem for our purposes: his Hall of Fame election is a sure thing, as he's one of the 20 or so greatest pitchers of all-time, one who won a Cy Young at 39 with one of the greatest-ever seasons for a pitcher that age — even better than Cy Young himself at 39. For years now, FanGraphs' Jay Jaffe has used a system called "JAWS" that determines Hall-worthiness for players based on a calculation of their peak years and their career in total, using wins above replacement for inputs. Verlander's JAWS rating ranks 19th all-time among starting pitchers. Every pitcher ahead of him — and many more behind him — are already in Cooperstown, or headed there themselves. Max Scherzer (40 years old, 18 seasons, 74 bWAR) Scherzer is right behind Verlander in basically everything. Verlander is 11th all-time in strikeouts, and Scherzer is 12th, with both capable of entering the top 10 before they call it quits. Verlander is 19th in JAWS, among starters all-time, Scherzer is 27th. They've both won three Cy Young awards, and they were even teammates with the Tigers for a stretch there. There is no reality in which Scherzer doesn't follow Verlander into the Hall of Fame, either: they're not just two of the best of their era, but two of the best ever. Yu Darvish (38 years old, 13 seasons, 33 bWAR) Darvish doesn't have as obvious a Hall of Fame case as either Verlander or Scherzer, but it's there. Darvish didn't join MLB until he was already 25 years old, and he had seven years of Nippon Professional Baseball under his belt. In 13 MLB seasons, Darvish has a 3.63 ERA that translates to a 116 ERA+, with over 2,018 strikeouts and a 3.7 K/BB in 1,722 innings. In those seven years in NPB, Darvish logged 1,268 innings with another 1,250 strikeouts and a 3.8 K/BB, all with a 1.99 ERA. All told as a professional major-league player, Darvish has 20 seasons behind him at 38 years old, an ERA of 2.95, and is one of just 25 pitchers between MLB and NPB to strike out at least 3,000 batters, at 3,268 — the difference between Darvish and the rest is that he racked up those Ks in two countries. Paul Goldschmidt (37 years old, 15 seasons, 64 bWAR) Goldschmidt led the NL in homers with 36 in 2013 while with the Diamondbacks, and took home NL MVP honors in 2022 with the Cardinals. He's a seven-time All-Star with 370 career home runs who has also won four Gold Gloves in his career — the kind of thing that will make up for him eventually hitting "just" 400 career homers, if he gets to that point. 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Ichiro Suzuki Already Had A Hall of Fame Career. So, He Did It Again.
Ichiro Suzuki Already Had A Hall of Fame Career. So, He Did It Again.

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Ichiro Suzuki Already Had A Hall of Fame Career. So, He Did It Again.

Ichiro Suzuki was one of the greatest baseball players in history, and then he came to America. He was so popular that, all the way back in 1994 in his native Japan, he began to use "Ichiro" on the back of his team jersey rather than "Suzuki." Since Suzuki was such a common family name, his team believed it would be stellar marketing – a plan that continued when he joined the Seattle Mariners. Consider how often "Ichiro" appears to "Suzuki" in this piece, and ask yourself if that plan worked. For the Baseball Hall of Fame's purposes, and likely those of the majority of its voters, the career of Ichiro began in 2001 with the Mariners when he was already 27 years old. The record books state that he had 3,089 hits, and that it took him until 2016 to record the 3,000th of his career. In one sense, this is all true: it is when he made it to MLB, after all. But he did not arrive out of a void of nothingness. He was fully formed, a massive star in his home country of Japan who was making the trek to MLB for a new challenge. One he was more than qualified for, despite the protests and concerns of scouts, fans, and certain members of the media who weren't sure what to make of the little guy with the weird swing. Until they saw what he and that swing could do. From age 18 through 26, Ichiro played in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league. As a teenager, he was a bench player playing sporadically — he wasn't even drafted until the fourth round since he was 5-foot-9 and skinny. He was selected for his pitching more than his bat, despite thriving at the plate in high school. It didn't help that Orix BlueWave manager, Shōzō Doi, disliked his swing, but he eventually relented in keeping Ichiro in the outfield — just in the minors instead. 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Yankees slugger Aaron Judge sidelined with 'elbow issue' as concern mounts: 'We'll see'
Yankees slugger Aaron Judge sidelined with 'elbow issue' as concern mounts: 'We'll see'

Fox News

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Yankees slugger Aaron Judge sidelined with 'elbow issue' as concern mounts: 'We'll see'

The New York Yankees have struggled lately. Friday's loss to the Philadelphia Phillies marked a second consecutive defeat and was the team's fourth loss in its last ten games. However, "The Bronx Bombers" concerns could mount as the team monitors the health of superstar Aaron Judge. The reigning American League MVP was scratched from Saturday's lineup due to what Yankees manager Aaron Boone described as an "elbow issue." "He's dealing with an elbow issue," Boone told reporters Saturday morning. Boone also noted that Judge experienced some difficulty when he threw the ball from the outfield during Friday's 12-5 loss to the Phillies. Judge was not pulled from the lineup in that game. The apparent discomfort did ultimately prompt an MRI. On Saturday morning, Boone said the team was still waiting for the imaging results. "Obviously, you guys asked about it in Toronto, but he felt like it was fine on the off day," Boone said. "Then, (Friday) night, he couldn't really throw well from the outfield, so he came in today and got imaging on that. Obviously it's a concern, but we'll wait and see." Judge went hitless on Friday, but did record an RBI on a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning. Judge was listed as the Yankees designated hitter when New York played the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday. He returned to his normal spot in right field on Friday as the Yankees opened a three-game series against the Phillies.

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