Pirates vs. Yankees will bring familiar faces back taken at PNC Park (Pirates)

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Jameson Taillon pitches at Yankee Stadium.

After the dust settles from Independence Day celebrations, the Yankees will make the trip to PNC Park for the first time since 2017. 

Fresh off a split of their four-game series against the Brewers and a rare off day on July 4, the Pirates welcome the Yankees to Pittsburgh for a quick two-game series starting Tuesday. The Yankees bring with them baseball's best record and two pitchers the Pirates know all too well: Jameson Taillon and Clay Holmes.

"Two guys I like off the field, I like on the field when they're not pitching [against] the Pirates," Derek Shelton said after Sunday's loss to the Brewers. "I have a good relationship with both of them. Like we've talked about, sometimes when you trade players you have to trade good players to acquire players back, and that's when we're in those situations. It will be nice to see them, but I hope both of them don't pitch very well."

The Pirates will face off against Taillon on Tuesday, which will be his first appearance at PNC Park since Pittsburgh traded him prior to the 2021 season in exchange for Roansy Contreras, Canaan Smith-Njigba, Miguel Yajure and Maikol Escotto.

Taillon's first year in the Bronx was also his first since he last pitched for the Pirates in 2019 thanks to a second Tommy John surgery. As expected, Taillon's 4.31 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 29 starts last year weren't quite up to par with his potential. 

He has, however, bounced back with a strong performance so far this season, going 9-1 with a 3.32 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 15 starts. While he isn't striking out as many batters as he has in the past, Taillon entered play on Sunday with 1.2 walks per nine innings, the best mark in the major leagues.

While Pirate fans won't see Gerrit Cole in this series (Luis Severino is Wednesday's probable starter), there's a good chance Holmes also makes his first appearance at PNC Park in the road team's uniform during this series. Prior to being traded to New York last season, Holmes had begun to figure out the recipe for success out of the Pirates' bullpen. Now, he's become arguably the best relief pitcher in baseball.

Through 36 appearances, Holmes has shut down the opposition with authority, posting a 0.49 ERA and 0.73 WHIP. The Yankees turned to Holmes in the closer's role when Aroldis Chapman went on the injured list in late May, and he's racked up 15 saves since -- four behind Cleveland's Emmanuel Clase, the American League leader. 

To put these mind-boggling stats in another light, Holmes has allowed three runs, two of them earned, in 37 innings. After allowing a run in his first outing of the season on April 8, Holmes didn't allow another run to score until June 20. That kind of performance gives him a 2.0 bWAR on the season, which is tied with Cole for second on the Yankees' pitching staff, behind Nestor Cortes.

"He's throwing the ball well," Derek Shelton said after Sunday's loss to the Brewers. "Happy for him, but like I said, I hope he and Jamo don't throw the ball well when they're here and then when they leave, I hope they throw great.

Holmes isn't alone in the bullpen. Michael King, Wandy Peralta and Lucas Luetge have also put together solid seasons. King has provided a ton of value in 27 appearances out of the bullpen, posting a 2.27 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in 43 2/3 innings.

Of course, the Yankees can hit. Aaron Judge leads the way, slashing .282/.362/.619 with 29 home runs -- the most in MLB -- and 59 RBIs, which puts him in the running for AL MVP. DJ LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres are providing value on both sides of the ball while veteran hitters such as Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson and Anthony Rizzo help round out a lineup that has produced the best OPS+ in the big leagues.

One player of note that could be buried under all of the name recognition is catcher Jose Trevino, who was acquired in a trade from the Texas Rangers just before the start of the season. After he failed to win a starting job outright over the past two seasons in Texas, Trevino was relegated to compete with Jonah Heim for the backup spot once the Rangers acquired Mitch Garver from the Twins just days after the lockout ended.

While Trevino posted a .634 OPS over four different seasons with the Rangers, he is enjoying a breakout season in the Bronx, slashing .255/.303/.440 (.758 OPS) while providing elite value behind the plate as baseball's best in pitch framing.

What's really funny about this trade is the Yankees parted with RHP Albert Abreu as the main piece to acquire Trevino. Abreu was later traded to the Royals on June 3, then designated for assignment on June 17. Abreu was claimed off waivers on June 21 by ... the Yankees.

For the Pirates, Jose Quintana will oppose Taillon on Tuesday with Mitch Keller following on Wednesday. Quintana is coming off a solid start in Washington, earning a no decision while allowing just one run in six innings of work. Keller had a rough start last Wednesday, but was bailed out with a no decision thanks to Bryan Reynolds' three-homer game.

David Bednar has returned to the bullpen after sitting out four straight games last week. His return on Thursday did not go well as he failed to get out of the ninth inning and nearly blew an 8-4 lead. Yerry De Los Santos came in to record his second career save. His outing on Saturday went much better, pitching a scoreless ninth to record his 12th save of the season.


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