Game #143 Preview: Clevinger vs Pannone

The Blue Jays wrap up their 4 game set against Cleveland this afternoon, looking to earn the series split. Today’s finale gets underway at 1:07 ET.

Blue Jays’ Starter

Thomas Pannone returns to the Blue Jays rotation, making his first start since August 28 after a pair of relief appearances. It is Pannone’s 3rd start overall in the Majors, and he is 1-1 with a 4.58 ERA over 17.2 innings, mixing in a half dozen relief appearances too.

Pannone has done a decent job thus far in the Majors. He isn’t striking out many, just 13 in his 17.2 innings, but he is doing a good job not walking anyone either, just 4 total. He has also allowed just 2 home runs, something that I’m not sure he can keep up going forward. He has allowed over 50% flyballs, something that lines up with the pitcher that he has been since joining the Jays’ organization, and also pretty close to the level he was at prior to the trade. A large amount of fly balls doesn’t necessarily mean a large amount of home runs, but it pretty rarely doesn’t in the long term. But if he can avoid letting too many runners on base, the home runs won’t hurt too much.

Cleveland Starter

Breakout right hander Mike Clevinger goes for Cleveland. Through 28 starts thus far, Clevinger is 11-7 with a 3.11 ERA. The ERA is the same as he posted last year, but he has thrown 55 more innings this year and also has a better FIP. His biggest breakthrough has come in the walk department, where he he has reduced his BB/9 from 4.44 last year to 2.91.

Clevinger was the starting pitcher in the Jays’ 1-game series in Cleveland at the start of April (when the other 2 were rained out). The Jays scored 4 runs on 3 hits and a pair of walks over 4 innings off Clevinger, getting a home run from Aledmys Diaz.

Lineups

Yesterday’s Heroes

Mike Trout, the seemingly forgotten legend now that his Angels are out of it yet again, earns our Monster Bat award for yesterday. He went 5-5 with a pair of home runs, catapulting himself to back towards the top of the WAR leaderboard. His efforts helped his Angels beat down the White Sox 12-3.

Speaking of forgotten legends, Bryce Harper, playing in a pair of games against the Cubs yesterday, gets to take home our WPA King title. The first game was fairly mundane, as Harper put up an 0.38 WPA, but it was in the nightcap that he shone, hitting a big 2 run home run in the bottom of the 7th which gave the Nationals the lead, one they would not relinquish. The Nationals swept the double header 10-3 and 6-5, and Harper’s .500 WPA on the day definitely helped.

Jorge Lopez of the Royals had a marvellous game. He threw 8 innings, allowing just 1 run on 1 hit and 1 walk, striking out 4 to earn our Pitcher of the Day award. It was his 3rd career win as he helped the Royals take down the hometown Twins 4-1.

Find the Link

Find the link between Mike Clevinger and Garret Anderson.