12:10 PM [952] TOTAL u7+105 (PHI PHILLIES vrs MIA MARLINS) ( Z EFLIN -R / A CONLEY -L )
8:10 PM [958] MIL BREWERS -138 ( A BRADLEY -R / J NELSON -R )
8:05 PM [962] TEX RANGERS -170 ( S MANAEA -L / Y DARVISH -R )
12:10 PM [968] TOTAL u8-115 (WAS NATIONALS vrs CLE INDIANS) ( S STRASBURG/ C CARRASCO)
3:10 PM [972] TOTAL u7.5 -110 (TB RAYS vrs LA DODGERS) ( M MOORE -L / B MCCARTHY -R )
1 unit bet pays 19 ....betdsi line
MLB parlays: 11-116, -20.24 units (risk 1 unit each pick)... winner #1 posted here......winner #2 posted here....winner #3 and nice winner #4... and small reduced winner #5, winner #6 paid 5.07 units...winner #7...and here is winner #8...and then winner #9....after long dry spell, hit four teamer on July 4th.....and another long dry spell, hit five teamer on July 23rd.
Goood luck everyone!! :firing: :toast:
:0074
ripped, cut and pasted, otherwise written by others, from across the internets:
Zach Eflin - Sure, his numbers after that horrid debut against the Blue Jays are excellent: 2.08 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 0.94 BB/9, and 27.6% hard contact, but he struggles to fan batters (just a 4.53 K/9) and his FIP/xFIP/SIERA aren't much on his side (3.33/4.57/4.73) as he holds a .221 BABIP and 5.1% HR/FB rate in that span...I think he has the upside to strikeout more batters and be a decent ERA guy overall. What I'm saying is that he's not someone you want to roster for long periods of time. Just look at his future schedule and pick your spots. He gets the Marlins next, so hang around for that, but I'd be avoiding his date with the Giants thereafter.
if someone takes #951 Philadelphia at +1.5 -135 (-129 at Pinny) on the Run Line, they have not done the wrong thing. Zach Eflin is throwing a lot of strikes (1.4 BB/9, which you should believe, after a 1.5 at AAA earlier this season, and a 1.6 at AAA last year), and the Phillie bullpen is fresh, which makes it difficult for the Marlins to break this one open. That provides a good setting to fade a market move that has run too far.
we can find #968 Cleveland/Washington First Half Under (12:10 Eastern), now available with 4s hanging out there. You might have to lay -120 for that number, but that is fair.
I am not sure why this starting time was pushed up this early, with neither team playing again until Friday, but this is an ideal way to take advantage ? it is unlikely that either team takes batting practice after they played a 3:17 affair last night, and there is not much experience from the batter?s boxes at all vs. two starters with terrific stuff ? the Indians lineup only has 15 plate appearances vs. Strasburg, while the struggling Ben Revere (.216/.262/.302) is the only one in the Nats lineup that has ever seen Carrasco. Look for both pitchers to be ahead of the hitters on the first pass or two through the lineup.
San Diego @ TORONTO
San Diego +186 over TORONTO
We?ve been playing Luis Perdomo all season and we?re not about to quit now because he continues to be greatly undervalued with wicked stuff. Perdomo has made just nine starts this year but five of those have been of the pure quality variety. His current 6.93 ERA and 1.81 WHIP make him a big fade target but following suit would be a big gamble. Perdomo?s base skills are rock solid as a starter with 7.7 K?s/9, 2.5 BB?s/9 and 62% groundballs. Perdomo's combination of being able to miss bats (10.8% swing and miss rate) and generating groundballs gives him a unique profile, especially when considering his mid-90s fastball. a very unlucky 39% hit rate and 64% strand rate have combined to torpedo his surface stats and although this kid is raw, he has future ace potential.
Then there?s R.A Dickey and Josh Thole. Thole catches every time Dickey pitches, which puts the Jays at a disadvantage before a pitch is thrown. You see, Thole is hitting .157, which is the equivalent of a National League pitcher batting ninth. Perhaps that explains in part why the BlueJays are 2-10 in Dickeys last 12 home starts. Dickey was torched in his last start but that?s what you get with him. He?s a roll of the dice every time he takes the hill, which makes him far more appealing as a dog. Furthermore, it?s not like the Blue Jays are hitting lights out these days either. They scored 12 runs in their previous four home games prior to last night and were held to four hits by Andrew Cashner before the Pads bullpen came in late and couldn?t throw strikes, which is not commonplace by Padres relievers. At the end of the day, the Jays are almost always overpriced at home, the Padres are almost always underpriced both at home and on the road and the result is this big overlay.
Moore pitched seven innings Thursday against the A's in picking up his sixth win. He has gone six-plus innings in nine consecutive starts. Most of that success stems for better fastball command, which has enhanced his offspeed pitches.
Bumgarner continues to dominate, especially at home where he has an incredible 1.64 ERA with a .178 opponent batting average, and he has not allowed a run in his last two home starts, so I am very confident siding with him. Straily has not been the same pitcher on the road this season where he has a 4.96 ERA, so I expect the Giants to get to him and the Reds terrible bullpen for some runs in this contest
James Paxton..beat the Blue Jays last time out, allowing one run and three hits over seven innings in one of Paxton?s best starts of the year. He also struck out nine. It equaled the second-lowest amount of earned runs he?s surrendered in a start this season and his second-best strikeout total as well. ?The difference for me, with Paxton, was the depth of his breaking ball; the curveball and the slider ? kept them off the fastball,? said Mariners manager Scott Servais. Paxton spent time between his starts with pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre tweaking the delivery of his curveball. Three of Paxton?s nine strikeouts on Friday came via the curveball....Mariners are just 4-10 in his past 14 on the road. Pittsburgh has won its past four against lefty starters.
-------
The last time the White Sox saw Anthony Ranaudo pitch, they drew five walks and scored five runs without recording a hit against the 26-year-old right-hander.
That disastrous outing ? which came in a 13-11 White Sox loss to the Texas Rangers ? was Ranaudo?s last major league appearance. The former LSU ace and 2010 first-round pick was traded to the White Sox May 12 for minor leaguer Matt Ball and spent the last two months with Triple-A Charlotte.
But with Chris Sale earning a five-game suspension for destroying throwback jerseys on Saturday, the White Sox needed to bring up another arm. And with right-hander Jacob Turner struggling in two outings in place of the injured Carlos Rodon, Ranaudo will start for the White Sox Wednesday against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
?Hopefully I get another chance to go back out there and prove that?s not who I am,? Ranaudo said before learning of his scheduled start.
Ranaudo once was a big-time prospect, being ranked 67th in baseball by Baseball America prior to the 2011 season. But he?s never been able to find success in the majors and will enter his start with a 6.33 ERA and more walks (32) than strikeouts (28) in 58 1/3 innings from 2014-2016.
In 13 starts with Triple-A Charlotte, Ranaudo posted a 3.20 ERA with 53 strikeouts, eight walks and 12 home runs allowed over 78 2/3 innings.
?I think he?s refined (things) a little bit more to be able to throw some strikes and have command,? manager Robin Ventura said. ?You?re going to have to have it, especially if it?s warm. So hopefully he?s got it.?
Ranaudo can?t afford to have his command escape him, as it did in May against the White Sox, when he faces the Cubs ? which lead baseball with a 10.6 percent walk rate ? on Wednesday.
----
Angels vs. Royals
Play: Royals -121
KC has won 7 of 8 as a home favorite in this range. The Angels are a dismal 0-13 in the last game of a road series vs a starting pitcher that has a strike to ball ratio of higher than 2. LA has lost 5 of the last 7 as a road dog. They have Shoemaker on the hill and they have lost 7 of his 10 road starts as he has a 4.74 road era. Shoemaker has allowed a staggering 14 runs in 5 innings over 2 starts here in this park. He will oppose durable lefty Danny Duffy who has a a solid 3.17 era. KC has won 6 of his 7 home starts this season. Look for the Royals to take the finale.
The Royals have won in each of Duffy's last five outings and are 10-3 with him as a starter this season.
Shoemaker..has been one of baseball?s best starting pitchers since around the middle of May, with a 2.39 ERA over his last 12 starts. But he is only 3-5 in that stretch.
St Louis at New York
Play: St Louis -131
The St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Mets split a doubleheader on Tuesday after Monday's opener of the three-game set rained out. I like the Cardinals in the rubber match.
Adam Wainwright (9-5, 4.09 ERA) takes the ball for St. Louis. He's earned three wins in his last four starts while surrendering just a total of three runs while striking out 27 through 29 innings. He tossed seven scoreless innings against the Mets back in 2014 in the most recent meeting.
The Mets turn to Logan Verrett (3-6, 4.14). who is 1-4 with a 4.97 ERA as a starting pitcher this year and he has struggled to log innings lately. New York could need a lot of innings from the 26 year old after yesterday's demanding doubleheader.
Cardinals are 9-2 in their last 11 road games vs. a team with a winning record and 12-3 in their last 15 games vs. a right-handed starter.
Oakland Athletics vs. Texas Rangers
Play: Texas Rangers -164
The Rangers have split the first two games of this home series versus Oakland, but they look good here in the rubber match Wednesday. Yu Darvish will toe the rubber for the Rangers, and he's undefeated at home so far. Darvish (2-2, 3.12 ERA) allowed two earned runs on seven hits, striking out 11 in six innings in a loss at Kansas City his last time out. He's totaled 27 strikeouts in his last 15 1/3 innings pitched (WOW). The Athletics hand the ball to Sean Manaea, who is winless on the road this season. Manaea (3-5, 4.61 ERA) allowed a pair of runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings in a no decision at home versus Texas earlier this season. He's 0-3 with a 7.89 ERA in four starts away from Oakland. The Rangers Joey Gallo hit a home run last night in his first game since being called up from Triple A. The 22 year old will try to fill a void left by the injuries to Shin Soo Choo and Prince Fielder.
Yankees at Astros
Pick: Under
The Yankees have a weak offense, on a 12-3-1 run under the total, including 7-0 under against a righty starter. Ace Masahiro Tanaka (7-2, 3.00 ERA) is on a roll, with the team 7-3 under in his last 10 road start. Tanaka induced 11 swinging strikes his last start, and has now given up only four earned runs over the 24.1 innings encompassing his four July starts. Houston is 18-7 under the total against a winning team and 11-1 under when Lance McCullers starters at home. The Under is 16-5 in McCullers' last 21 starts overall and the Under is 10-1 in the last 11 meetings in Houston between these teams.
Now there is a ton of hype surrounding Lance McCullers now, with this great Eno Sarris article as well as reports of his spin rate being off the charts and I'd take this chance to sell high on the kid. Sounds crazy, right? Well, he's really bad at limiting his walks and y'all know how much that can destroy a pitcher with great upside (read: Francisco Liriano). I love getting excited about upside as much as the next guy - maybe even more, it's the most fun part of the game, really - but I can't sit here and ignore his 5.37 BB/9 and 3.88 SIERA.
The Under is 11-3 in Tanaka?s last 14 starts vs. the American League West
The Under is 11-1 in McCullers? last 12 home starts
Sean Manaea - 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. Man, so many pitchers that I feel the need to go in depth on today. Has Manaea figured it out? A 3.00 ERA, 8.44 K/9 over his last seven starts with just a 1.88 BB/9 - easily his biggest concern - as he hasn't walked a batter in three starts. He's had to face the Giants, Rangers, and Blue Jays in this seven game stretch so it's not just him owning poor squads. The biggest change I see is that he's getting more swings on his Slider, which has taken a backseat to his Changeup. We're talking the same jump that Rodon had earlier from around 33% to 52% swings on Sliders. That's a big boost that is helping tremendously with his walk rate. Do I see this is as a must add? Not really,
Texas has hit .278 overall at home, including .322 vs lefties.
after sucking coming off DL, Eduardo Rodriguez was sent down to Pawtucket to work on his mechanics and pitch tipping. He practiced with the coaches hard and it seemed to have worked, skipper Farrell said "There's been some adjustments made to his hand position...he feels like and looks like he's gained some comfort with the hand position that has been widely talked about. Required and needed adjustments have been made."...so after that they called him back and he's been fine in his two starts since, the hope is he's regained his good form from last season.
Fulmer has been bit lucky (his hit and strand rate, before last start, were not sustainable). He doesn't strike out a lot and tosses a decent number of balls. He's never gone much over 80 innings/season in his pro career - so the thought is that he will tire down the stretch and his peripherals will sharply adjust to expected norm. Probably not today, nor vs CWS or Mets - but on the road vs Seattle and TX in August, I will probably go against him then.
both teams combined for 22 hits last night, and both bullpens are taxed and have problems. Eduardo Rodriguez needs to pitch deep, but you see the few times he's gone 7 innings, he still gave up tons of hits and was fortunate with strand rate. He also has career 7.06 ERA in day, vs 3.23 night. Fulmer has been excellent in his day starts of his rookie campaign.
Coldest team: Diamondbacks (3-7 last 10)
The Brewers broke open a 4-4 game with the Diamondbacks on Tuesday by scoring five runs in the eighth inning to capture a 9-4 victory. Arizona dropped 1-4 on its current road swing, while giving up at least six runs for the sixth straight game. In the past seven contests, not one Diamondbacks? starting pitcher has made it out of the sixth inning, taxing an already depleted bullpen. Archie Bradley heads to the mound at Miller Park tonight for Arizona, as the right-hander has received a total of four runs of support in his past three outings with the D-backs going 1-2 in those contests.
Hottest pitcher: Danny Duffy, Royals (6-1, 3.14 ERA)
Kansas City may not make the World Series for the third straight season with the way it has been playing lately, allowing 19 runs in the first two losses of their series to the Angels. The Royals hope to turn around their luck with Duffy taking the hill as the southpaw is unbeaten in his last five starts. Duffy has put together four quality starts in this span, allowing two earned runs or less four times, including tossing 6.2 innings in a 3-1 victory over Texas last Friday. The Royals have yet to be swept at home this season, so Kansas City hopes to keep that streak with a victory tonight.
8:10 PM [958] MIL BREWERS -138 ( A BRADLEY -R / J NELSON -R )
8:05 PM [962] TEX RANGERS -170 ( S MANAEA -L / Y DARVISH -R )
12:10 PM [968] TOTAL u8-115 (WAS NATIONALS vrs CLE INDIANS) ( S STRASBURG/ C CARRASCO)
3:10 PM [972] TOTAL u7.5 -110 (TB RAYS vrs LA DODGERS) ( M MOORE -L / B MCCARTHY -R )
1 unit bet pays 19 ....betdsi line
MLB parlays: 11-116, -20.24 units (risk 1 unit each pick)... winner #1 posted here......winner #2 posted here....winner #3 and nice winner #4... and small reduced winner #5, winner #6 paid 5.07 units...winner #7...and here is winner #8...and then winner #9....after long dry spell, hit four teamer on July 4th.....and another long dry spell, hit five teamer on July 23rd.
Goood luck everyone!! :firing: :toast:
ripped, cut and pasted, otherwise written by others, from across the internets:
Zach Eflin - Sure, his numbers after that horrid debut against the Blue Jays are excellent: 2.08 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 0.94 BB/9, and 27.6% hard contact, but he struggles to fan batters (just a 4.53 K/9) and his FIP/xFIP/SIERA aren't much on his side (3.33/4.57/4.73) as he holds a .221 BABIP and 5.1% HR/FB rate in that span...I think he has the upside to strikeout more batters and be a decent ERA guy overall. What I'm saying is that he's not someone you want to roster for long periods of time. Just look at his future schedule and pick your spots. He gets the Marlins next, so hang around for that, but I'd be avoiding his date with the Giants thereafter.
if someone takes #951 Philadelphia at +1.5 -135 (-129 at Pinny) on the Run Line, they have not done the wrong thing. Zach Eflin is throwing a lot of strikes (1.4 BB/9, which you should believe, after a 1.5 at AAA earlier this season, and a 1.6 at AAA last year), and the Phillie bullpen is fresh, which makes it difficult for the Marlins to break this one open. That provides a good setting to fade a market move that has run too far.
we can find #968 Cleveland/Washington First Half Under (12:10 Eastern), now available with 4s hanging out there. You might have to lay -120 for that number, but that is fair.
I am not sure why this starting time was pushed up this early, with neither team playing again until Friday, but this is an ideal way to take advantage ? it is unlikely that either team takes batting practice after they played a 3:17 affair last night, and there is not much experience from the batter?s boxes at all vs. two starters with terrific stuff ? the Indians lineup only has 15 plate appearances vs. Strasburg, while the struggling Ben Revere (.216/.262/.302) is the only one in the Nats lineup that has ever seen Carrasco. Look for both pitchers to be ahead of the hitters on the first pass or two through the lineup.
San Diego @ TORONTO
San Diego +186 over TORONTO
We?ve been playing Luis Perdomo all season and we?re not about to quit now because he continues to be greatly undervalued with wicked stuff. Perdomo has made just nine starts this year but five of those have been of the pure quality variety. His current 6.93 ERA and 1.81 WHIP make him a big fade target but following suit would be a big gamble. Perdomo?s base skills are rock solid as a starter with 7.7 K?s/9, 2.5 BB?s/9 and 62% groundballs. Perdomo's combination of being able to miss bats (10.8% swing and miss rate) and generating groundballs gives him a unique profile, especially when considering his mid-90s fastball. a very unlucky 39% hit rate and 64% strand rate have combined to torpedo his surface stats and although this kid is raw, he has future ace potential.
Then there?s R.A Dickey and Josh Thole. Thole catches every time Dickey pitches, which puts the Jays at a disadvantage before a pitch is thrown. You see, Thole is hitting .157, which is the equivalent of a National League pitcher batting ninth. Perhaps that explains in part why the BlueJays are 2-10 in Dickeys last 12 home starts. Dickey was torched in his last start but that?s what you get with him. He?s a roll of the dice every time he takes the hill, which makes him far more appealing as a dog. Furthermore, it?s not like the Blue Jays are hitting lights out these days either. They scored 12 runs in their previous four home games prior to last night and were held to four hits by Andrew Cashner before the Pads bullpen came in late and couldn?t throw strikes, which is not commonplace by Padres relievers. At the end of the day, the Jays are almost always overpriced at home, the Padres are almost always underpriced both at home and on the road and the result is this big overlay.
Moore pitched seven innings Thursday against the A's in picking up his sixth win. He has gone six-plus innings in nine consecutive starts. Most of that success stems for better fastball command, which has enhanced his offspeed pitches.
Bumgarner continues to dominate, especially at home where he has an incredible 1.64 ERA with a .178 opponent batting average, and he has not allowed a run in his last two home starts, so I am very confident siding with him. Straily has not been the same pitcher on the road this season where he has a 4.96 ERA, so I expect the Giants to get to him and the Reds terrible bullpen for some runs in this contest
James Paxton..beat the Blue Jays last time out, allowing one run and three hits over seven innings in one of Paxton?s best starts of the year. He also struck out nine. It equaled the second-lowest amount of earned runs he?s surrendered in a start this season and his second-best strikeout total as well. ?The difference for me, with Paxton, was the depth of his breaking ball; the curveball and the slider ? kept them off the fastball,? said Mariners manager Scott Servais. Paxton spent time between his starts with pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre tweaking the delivery of his curveball. Three of Paxton?s nine strikeouts on Friday came via the curveball....Mariners are just 4-10 in his past 14 on the road. Pittsburgh has won its past four against lefty starters.
-------
The last time the White Sox saw Anthony Ranaudo pitch, they drew five walks and scored five runs without recording a hit against the 26-year-old right-hander.
That disastrous outing ? which came in a 13-11 White Sox loss to the Texas Rangers ? was Ranaudo?s last major league appearance. The former LSU ace and 2010 first-round pick was traded to the White Sox May 12 for minor leaguer Matt Ball and spent the last two months with Triple-A Charlotte.
But with Chris Sale earning a five-game suspension for destroying throwback jerseys on Saturday, the White Sox needed to bring up another arm. And with right-hander Jacob Turner struggling in two outings in place of the injured Carlos Rodon, Ranaudo will start for the White Sox Wednesday against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
?Hopefully I get another chance to go back out there and prove that?s not who I am,? Ranaudo said before learning of his scheduled start.
Ranaudo once was a big-time prospect, being ranked 67th in baseball by Baseball America prior to the 2011 season. But he?s never been able to find success in the majors and will enter his start with a 6.33 ERA and more walks (32) than strikeouts (28) in 58 1/3 innings from 2014-2016.
In 13 starts with Triple-A Charlotte, Ranaudo posted a 3.20 ERA with 53 strikeouts, eight walks and 12 home runs allowed over 78 2/3 innings.
?I think he?s refined (things) a little bit more to be able to throw some strikes and have command,? manager Robin Ventura said. ?You?re going to have to have it, especially if it?s warm. So hopefully he?s got it.?
Ranaudo can?t afford to have his command escape him, as it did in May against the White Sox, when he faces the Cubs ? which lead baseball with a 10.6 percent walk rate ? on Wednesday.
----
Angels vs. Royals
Play: Royals -121
KC has won 7 of 8 as a home favorite in this range. The Angels are a dismal 0-13 in the last game of a road series vs a starting pitcher that has a strike to ball ratio of higher than 2. LA has lost 5 of the last 7 as a road dog. They have Shoemaker on the hill and they have lost 7 of his 10 road starts as he has a 4.74 road era. Shoemaker has allowed a staggering 14 runs in 5 innings over 2 starts here in this park. He will oppose durable lefty Danny Duffy who has a a solid 3.17 era. KC has won 6 of his 7 home starts this season. Look for the Royals to take the finale.
The Royals have won in each of Duffy's last five outings and are 10-3 with him as a starter this season.
Shoemaker..has been one of baseball?s best starting pitchers since around the middle of May, with a 2.39 ERA over his last 12 starts. But he is only 3-5 in that stretch.
St Louis at New York
Play: St Louis -131
The St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Mets split a doubleheader on Tuesday after Monday's opener of the three-game set rained out. I like the Cardinals in the rubber match.
Adam Wainwright (9-5, 4.09 ERA) takes the ball for St. Louis. He's earned three wins in his last four starts while surrendering just a total of three runs while striking out 27 through 29 innings. He tossed seven scoreless innings against the Mets back in 2014 in the most recent meeting.
The Mets turn to Logan Verrett (3-6, 4.14). who is 1-4 with a 4.97 ERA as a starting pitcher this year and he has struggled to log innings lately. New York could need a lot of innings from the 26 year old after yesterday's demanding doubleheader.
Cardinals are 9-2 in their last 11 road games vs. a team with a winning record and 12-3 in their last 15 games vs. a right-handed starter.
Oakland Athletics vs. Texas Rangers
Play: Texas Rangers -164
The Rangers have split the first two games of this home series versus Oakland, but they look good here in the rubber match Wednesday. Yu Darvish will toe the rubber for the Rangers, and he's undefeated at home so far. Darvish (2-2, 3.12 ERA) allowed two earned runs on seven hits, striking out 11 in six innings in a loss at Kansas City his last time out. He's totaled 27 strikeouts in his last 15 1/3 innings pitched (WOW). The Athletics hand the ball to Sean Manaea, who is winless on the road this season. Manaea (3-5, 4.61 ERA) allowed a pair of runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings in a no decision at home versus Texas earlier this season. He's 0-3 with a 7.89 ERA in four starts away from Oakland. The Rangers Joey Gallo hit a home run last night in his first game since being called up from Triple A. The 22 year old will try to fill a void left by the injuries to Shin Soo Choo and Prince Fielder.
Yankees at Astros
Pick: Under
The Yankees have a weak offense, on a 12-3-1 run under the total, including 7-0 under against a righty starter. Ace Masahiro Tanaka (7-2, 3.00 ERA) is on a roll, with the team 7-3 under in his last 10 road start. Tanaka induced 11 swinging strikes his last start, and has now given up only four earned runs over the 24.1 innings encompassing his four July starts. Houston is 18-7 under the total against a winning team and 11-1 under when Lance McCullers starters at home. The Under is 16-5 in McCullers' last 21 starts overall and the Under is 10-1 in the last 11 meetings in Houston between these teams.
Now there is a ton of hype surrounding Lance McCullers now, with this great Eno Sarris article as well as reports of his spin rate being off the charts and I'd take this chance to sell high on the kid. Sounds crazy, right? Well, he's really bad at limiting his walks and y'all know how much that can destroy a pitcher with great upside (read: Francisco Liriano). I love getting excited about upside as much as the next guy - maybe even more, it's the most fun part of the game, really - but I can't sit here and ignore his 5.37 BB/9 and 3.88 SIERA.
The Under is 11-3 in Tanaka?s last 14 starts vs. the American League West
The Under is 11-1 in McCullers? last 12 home starts
Sean Manaea - 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. Man, so many pitchers that I feel the need to go in depth on today. Has Manaea figured it out? A 3.00 ERA, 8.44 K/9 over his last seven starts with just a 1.88 BB/9 - easily his biggest concern - as he hasn't walked a batter in three starts. He's had to face the Giants, Rangers, and Blue Jays in this seven game stretch so it's not just him owning poor squads. The biggest change I see is that he's getting more swings on his Slider, which has taken a backseat to his Changeup. We're talking the same jump that Rodon had earlier from around 33% to 52% swings on Sliders. That's a big boost that is helping tremendously with his walk rate. Do I see this is as a must add? Not really,
Texas has hit .278 overall at home, including .322 vs lefties.
after sucking coming off DL, Eduardo Rodriguez was sent down to Pawtucket to work on his mechanics and pitch tipping. He practiced with the coaches hard and it seemed to have worked, skipper Farrell said "There's been some adjustments made to his hand position...he feels like and looks like he's gained some comfort with the hand position that has been widely talked about. Required and needed adjustments have been made."...so after that they called him back and he's been fine in his two starts since, the hope is he's regained his good form from last season.
Fulmer has been bit lucky (his hit and strand rate, before last start, were not sustainable). He doesn't strike out a lot and tosses a decent number of balls. He's never gone much over 80 innings/season in his pro career - so the thought is that he will tire down the stretch and his peripherals will sharply adjust to expected norm. Probably not today, nor vs CWS or Mets - but on the road vs Seattle and TX in August, I will probably go against him then.
both teams combined for 22 hits last night, and both bullpens are taxed and have problems. Eduardo Rodriguez needs to pitch deep, but you see the few times he's gone 7 innings, he still gave up tons of hits and was fortunate with strand rate. He also has career 7.06 ERA in day, vs 3.23 night. Fulmer has been excellent in his day starts of his rookie campaign.
Coldest team: Diamondbacks (3-7 last 10)
The Brewers broke open a 4-4 game with the Diamondbacks on Tuesday by scoring five runs in the eighth inning to capture a 9-4 victory. Arizona dropped 1-4 on its current road swing, while giving up at least six runs for the sixth straight game. In the past seven contests, not one Diamondbacks? starting pitcher has made it out of the sixth inning, taxing an already depleted bullpen. Archie Bradley heads to the mound at Miller Park tonight for Arizona, as the right-hander has received a total of four runs of support in his past three outings with the D-backs going 1-2 in those contests.
Hottest pitcher: Danny Duffy, Royals (6-1, 3.14 ERA)
Kansas City may not make the World Series for the third straight season with the way it has been playing lately, allowing 19 runs in the first two losses of their series to the Angels. The Royals hope to turn around their luck with Duffy taking the hill as the southpaw is unbeaten in his last five starts. Duffy has put together four quality starts in this span, allowing two earned runs or less four times, including tossing 6.2 innings in a 3-1 victory over Texas last Friday. The Royals have yet to be swept at home this season, so Kansas City hopes to keep that streak with a victory tonight.
