The Pittsburgh Pirates take on the Colorado Rockies. Check out our MLB odds series for our Pirates Rockies prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Pirates Rockies.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are under .500, as they usually are in the month of June. Purely in terms of wins and losses, the Pirates' body of work in the first two and a half months of the 2024 MLB season has been utterly unremarkable. However, what's different about this season compared to previous Pirate seasons is that the National League is especially mediocre. Only four teams are at least two games over .500 entering play on June 15. It's the Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, and then everyone else. The National League is so bad that one of the teams currently in a playoff position is under .500. Another team currently in a playoff position, the San Diego Padres, is one game above .500. Given the landscape in the National League, almost a dozen teams are in legitimate playoff contention. Most of them are below .500.

One of them is the Pirates. Pittsburgh has a chance not because it is particularly good, but because the field has come back down to the Pirates' level. Pittsburgh could be a buyer at the trade deadline, but first, the Bucs have to at least play decent baseball in the four remaining weeks before the All-Star break. If Pittsburgh loses several games in the standings, the team will almost certainly be a seller. The next month is very crucial in shaping the short-term future for the Buccos.

Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Pirates-Rockies MLB odds.

MLB Odds: Pirates-Rockies Odds

Pittsburgh Pirates: -1.5 (-120)

Colorado Rockies: +1.5 (+100)

Over: 10.5 (-114)

Under: 10.5 (-106)

How To Watch Pirates vs. Rockies

TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh (Pirates) / MLB (Rockies) / MLB Extra Innings

Stream: MLB.TV

Time: 9:10 p.m. ET/6:10 p.m. PT

*Watch Pirates-Rockies LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)

Why The Pirates Could Cover the Spread

The Pirates have Jared Jones on the mound. Jones has been one of the big breakout stories of 2024. He is in the running for National League Rookie of the Year. Along with Paul Skenes, Jones has been an exciting presence for the Pirates, who have young and elite arms which could make this team a real force in two or three years. Jones, however, has been pitching in the majors the whole season, while Skenes was held back in the minors for more than a month before finally making his big-league debut several weeks ago.

Jones is a fearless pitcher. He goes right at opposing hitters and has the live arm needed to get a lot of swings and misses. Going up against the inconsistent Colorado offense, Jones has a very good chance of delivering a quality start, even in a hitter-friendly yard such as Coors Field. The Pirates comfortably beat the Rockies on Friday in Denver; there's no reason to think they can't do the same thing again on Saturday.

Why The Rockies Could Cover the Spread

After being the worst team in the majors in the first 31 games of the season, the Rockies have been a better-than-awful team since then. The Rockies face-planted at the start of the season, going 8-23. In each of those first 31 games, the Rockies trailed at one point in the proceedings. It's hard to be that bad, never leading wire-to-wire in 31 straight baseball games. It wasn't until Game 32 that Colorado finally played a nine-inning game in which it never trailed.

After being 8-23, the Rockies have since gone 16-22, which is hardly great but is also far better than what we saw in the first three weeks of the season. The offense still struggles, but Colorado has been getting competent pitching for most of the past month. More good pitching should enable the Rockies to cover the spread here.

Final Pirates-Rockies Prediction & Pick

Jared Jones is worth betting on against a bad team. Take Pittsburgh.

Final Pirates-Rockies Prediction & Pick: Pirates -1.5