Game #88 Preview: Severino vs Happ

After taking game 1 against the much disliked Yankees last night, the Blue Jays get right back at it this afternoon. Today’s game gets underway at 4:07 ET.

Blue Jays’ Starter

In perhaps an audition for his new team, J.A. Happ will make his first start against the Yankees since Opening Day. Happ has seen his early season excellent numbers diminish over the last few weeks, as he is now 10-4 with a 4.03 ERA. And the biggest culprit would have been his last time out against the Tigers on Canada Day.

After cruising through the first 4 innings, allowing just 3 hits and erasing two on double plays, Happ’s game fell apart in the 5th inning against the Tigers. He would get the first two out, but then allow back to back singles, a walk, an RBI single, and then the big blow, a grand slam to Nicholas Castellanos, to ruin his day. He started the 6th off with 2 outs again, but allowed 2 more runs to score and his night was over. In total, he went 5.2 innings, allowing 7 runs on 10 hits, with all 7 runs and 8 of the hits coming with 2 outs.

Yankees’ Starter

2018 AL Cy Young winner Luis Severino gets the ball for the Yankees. Through his first 18 starts, Severino is 13-2 with a 1.98 ERA. He has been great this season, which is what everyone expected, and it sucks.

Severino has faced the Jays twice so far this year. He has thrown 12.2 innings, allowing 1 run on 4 hits (a home run off the bat of Teoscar Hernandez) while striking out 13. He walked 5 in those 2 starts, accounting for a fairly large chunk of his 29 on the season.

Severino is currently leading all Major League starters in average fastball velocity, sitting at 97.8 mph. Second place, among qualified starters, is Mike Foltynewicz at 96.6 mph. Noah Syndergaard, who has thrown 64.2 innings, has an average fastball of 97.4 mph.

Lineups

Teoscar Hernandez and Devon Travis sit in lieu of Kendrys Morales and Lourdes Gurriel, while Luke Maile draws the start behind the plate.

The Yankees have called up Clint Frazier, who is on the bench in this one.

Yesterday’s Heroes

Evan Gattis went 3-4 with a home run, double and a walk, driving in 4 and earning our Monster Bat award. His efforts helped the Astros to the 11-4 win over the White Sox.

While Jose Bautista hit a walk-off Grand Slam last night, it wasn’t quite enough to get the WPA King award. Ian Kinsler also had a walk-off hit, and also included some WPA gains in the 6th inning from a balk, which allowed him to pull out the WPA King win. He put up a .567 mark as the Angels won the Battle of Los Angeles 3-2 over the Dodgers.

Jordan Zimmermann of the Tigers is the Pitcher of the Day. He went 8 innings, allowing 4 hits and 1 run, a solo shot off the bat of Shin-Soo Choo, as the Tigers beat the Rangers 3-1. Zimmermann narrowly edged out Jacob DeGrom, who also allowed 1 run on 4 hits and a home run over 8 innings, but DeGrom also walked and hit a batter.

Milestone Watch

Kendrys Morales has 199 career home runs, looking to bust into the 200 club.

John Axford pitched yesterday, and is now just 2 appearances back of Jesse Crain for 6th most pitching appearances by a Canadian.

Find the Link

Find the link between Severino and the best Aruban hitter ever.