Pittsburgh Pirates vs Atlanta Braves prediction, odds, and pick for Today, 09/27/25

The word that comes to mind when looking at the names Bubba Chandler and Spencer Strider beside each other is “electric.” Strider became one of my favorite pitchers immediately upon seeing him in a relief appearance during the beginning of the 2022 season. His injuries have resulted in a rough season in 2025, but I am happy to see his recent performances and believe he will rebound nicely in 2026. His last 5 starts have spanned a combined 30 innings while allowing just 7 earned runs in that span with only 2 homers allowed. His strikeout production is down, but that is something the Pirates lineup is good at helping opposing pitchers with.

Chandler is a highly regarded pitching prospect across the entire league, and he has shown flashes of extreme potential in his early performances for the Pirates. A start against the Brewers where he allowed 9 earned runs in 2.2 innings has shattered his total stats given the small sample, but his other 23 innings of work have combined for just 4 earned runs including 1 across 11 innings in his last 2 starts. Pittsburgh still has training wheels on him in terms of workload, thus my desire to limit this bet to the first 5 innings. At 4.5 the total through 5 innings seems too high to me given the arm talent and lack of offensive firepower.

Atlanta Braves vs Pittsburgh Pirates prediction: First 5 innings total under 4.5 (-120) available at time of publishing. Playable to -130 odds.