Game #27 Preview: Perez vs Happ

The Blue Jays look to avoid a three game sweep at he hands of the Rangers this afternoon. First pitch is at 1:07 ET.

Blue Jays’ Starter

Early season strikeout factory J.A. Happ gets the start for the Jays. Happ has struck out 41 in his 29 innings of work, giving him a K/9 of 12.72. That places him third in all of baseball, sandwiched between Max Scherzer and Gerrit Cole.

On the season, Happ is 3-1 with a 3.72 ERA. His 3.63 FIP is easily the best in the struggling Blue Jays’ rotation.

Rangers’ Starter

Martin Perez is making his 5th start of the season. He has struggled thus far, throwing 18.1 innings while allowing 21 runs (20 earned) on 36 hits, 8 walks and 4 home runs.

The left handed Perez has put up decent numbers in the past as a backend starter for the Rangers. Over the last two seasons, he has averaged almost 6 innings per start while sporting a 4.60 ERA over 65 starts.

Lineups

As Tom mentioned this morning, Devon Travis has been optioned to Buffalo to get his season back on track. Carlos Ramirez has been added to the bullpen to take his place. Lourdes Gurriel figures to get the bulk of the time at 2B until Donaldson gets back, at which point I would assume we’ll see Diaz getting a lot fewer opportunities.

Yesterday’s Heroes

David Peralta of the Diamondbacks had the big bat. He went 3-4 with a pair of home runs and a walk as his Diamondbacks held on to beat Washington 4-3.

Jose Quintana of the Cubs threw 7 shutout innings in the Cubs 3-0 win over the Brewers. That nets him Pitcher of the Day, and his .469 WPA also gets him WPA King.

Milestone Watch

Kevin Pillar still needs 2 steals to crack the top 20 all time Blue Jays list.

Happ is 10 strikeouts short of Chris Carpenter for 13th all time.

Find the Link

Find the link between Perez and Edwar Cabrera.