Who Are Ya: Edinson Volquez

I think dropping two games to the San Diego Padres represents rock bottom for the 2013 Blue Jays, but a sweep would make it even worse. It's up to Ramon Ortiz, going up against 29-year-old right handed Edinson Volquez. Volquez has gone 62.1 innings this year with an ERA of 5.20 and a FIP of 4.35. His control hasn't been great, represented in his 4.04 BB/9, which is actually pretty low for him with the same being said for his abnormally low K/9 of 5.92. Surprisingly, the move from the bandbox of Great American Ballpark to Petco hasn't really helped him at all even though his HR/FB% has halved.

Volquez throws a four-seamer and a two-seamer both in the low 90's. He complements it with a curveball and a changeup. His pitch usage is pretty even against batters on both side of the plate throwing his changeup almost a fifth of the time against same handed batters. The pitch is usually either located in on the hands or down and away in the dirt.

via www.fangraphs.com

In contrast almost all of his hard stuff against righties is located on the outer half of the plate. This is a little strange because hypothetically, if a pitch is on the inner half of the plate, the hitter could just assume changeup while sitting fastball on the outer half. Clearly easier said than done.

via www.fangraphs.com

Should Lind Play: YES

I was falling asleep last night, but I'm pretty sure I saw Adam Lind hitting lefties pretty hard. Against a righty I'm assuming they'll put Lind back in and slot Encarnacion at third again. Volquez is a pretty split-neutral pitcher for what it's worth.

My hopeful lineup:

1. Gose LF
2. Bautista RF
3. Lind 1B
4. Encarnacion 3B
5. Rasmus CF
6. Arencibia C
7. Bonifacio 2B
8. Kawasaki SS
9. Ortiz