The 21-21 Blue Jays visit the state of Texas today to take on the 20-21 Rangers in a three-game weekend series. Drew Hutchison takes on star right-hander Yu Darvish. Texas has been smashed by injuries and their starting pitching hasn't been so hot, so this team definitely isn't the powerhouse Rangers of past years. Naturally the one starting pitcher who has performed well for the Rangers is the one the Blue Jays have to face off against in the series opener. Also, fan favourite J.P. Arencibia is on this team:
via ESPN Depth Charts
Darvish has a 2.33 ERA and a 28.4% K-rate this year, so he's as good as he always is. He still throws a massive amount of pitches including (deep breath): a fastball, sinker, changeup, slider, cutter, curveball, splitter, and a slow curve. He's thrown each of those pitches at least 25 times this year, so they're not just mislabeled versions of other pitches. So here's what that looks like:
Hopeful Lineup
- Jose Reyes SS
- Melky Cabrera LF
- Jose Bautista RF
- Adam Lind DH
- Edwin Encarnacion 1B
- Juan Francisco 3B
- Brett Lawrie 2B
- Erik Kratz C
- Anthony Gose CF