Game #39 Preview: Nova vs Stroman

The Blue Jays won last night! So now they get the chance to build one of those fancy winning streaks starting this afternoon in game 2 of 3 against the White Sox. Today’s game gets underway at 3:07 ET, so if you had other afternoon plans, I’m sorry.

Blue Jays’ Starter

Marcus Stroman heads back to mound again in this one, making his 9th start of the season. His 1-5 record is very contradictory to his 2.96 ERA, as the Blue Jays offense flat out sucks when he is on the mound, scoring just 18 total runs in the 8 games that he has pitched.

Stroman really struggled his last time out, surrendering 6 runs (5 earned) on 8 hits, walking 2 and striking out only 2 in 4.2 innings. He also surrendered his first 2 home runs of the season, capping off his second straight terrible start. He allowed 5 runs (4 earned) in 3.2 innings on May 1, so maybe he’s doesn’t like May.

White Sox’ Starter

A very familiar face in Ivan Nova will head to mound for Chicago, making his 8th start with the 3rd franchise of his career. The former Yankee and Pirate is off to a rough start to his season, currently sitting with a 1-3 record and a 7.04 ERA. His FIP is a nicer looking 4.48, much closer to his career ERA/FIP level, and if you look at most of his other numbers, he’s really having a typical Nova season. Just is getting very unlucky, which is torpedoing his ERA.

Blue Jays’ Lineup

With the righty Nova on the mound, it will be interesting to see if the Jonathan Davis gets another crack at the starting lineup. My thought was that he would be a in a platoon with Billy McKinney, while also getting a few more starts to give guys breaks as needed. That still might be the case, as last night was his first day here and it’s nice to get into a game right away.

The Blue Jays seem to have altered their course a little bit with catching duties, mostly due to starters falling like flies. Danny Jansen had caught Sanchez and Stroman every time their spots came around until Sanchez’ last start. With Stroman and Sanchez set to go the next 2 games again, and with Jansen also having caught last night, Luke Maile is going to catch one of these games this weekend. Although given how well Sanchez did throwing to Maile last time out, that’s probably the assignment for him this weekend too.

White Sox’ Lineup

This is the 7th straight game that the White Sox are facing a right handed starter, so their lineup will likely look at least somewhat similar to what it did last night. That also means that poor Jose Rondon, the White Sox’ only platoon bat, is probably out of the lineup yet again.

James McCann is likely to be back in there after getting the night off last night. He’s having a spectacular season so far, hitting .350/.395/.575 and playing his normal solid defense behind the plate. Look for McCann to be in the 4th spot of the lineup, something a guy with a career 80 wRC+ probably isn’t used to.

Yesterday’s Heroes

Alex Gordon went 2-4 with a pair of homers, driving in 3 to earn our Monster Bat award. His bat helped his Royals to the rare win, this time 5-1 over the visiting Phillies.

Jake Odorizzi made it through 7 shutout innings, allowing just a single and nothing else. His excellent start earns him the Pitcher of the Day award in the league leading Twins’ 6-0 win over the Tigers.

Justin Verlander also threw 7 innings of 1-hit shutout, but he lost the Pitcher of the Day battle due to issuing a pair of walks. But he does still get to bring home the WPA King hardware, as the Astros win over the Rangers was a much closer 3-0. Verlander takes the title with a .450 WPA on the night.

Find the Link

Find the link between Nova and Travis Snider :)

Stats are courtesy of Fangraphs