Game #52 Preview: Quantrill vs Jackson

After a lost battle yesterday, the Blue Jays and Padres get right back at it this afternoon in game two of their three game series. Gametime is 3:07 ET.

Blue Jays’ Starter

The Blue Jays will send MLB’s ultimate journeyman to the hill, Edwin Jackson, making his third start for this his MLB record 14th franchise. The first two haven’t gone overly well, as he currently sits with an 0-1 record and a 6.30 ERA over 10 innings. Amazingly his pitch velocity is sitting right in the same place as it was 15 years ago, he just hasn’t been able to miss bats quite like he was before. His career swinging strike rate is close to 10%, but he’s down below 8% in his short sample so far, which has led to just 6 strikeouts in 10 innings.

Padres’ Starter

While the Jays are going with a 17 year veteran pitching in his 397th career game, the Padres are going with a local kid making just his 4th career start. Cal Quantrill, son of former Jays’ ace reliever Paul, grew up in nearby Port Hope, Ontario and will be making his Canadian debut today likely in front of a lot of family and friends.

In his first 3 starts, Quantrill has run into a bit of trouble with luck and sequencing more than anything. He’s 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA over 15 innings, but his FIP is a much nicer looking 3.82. He has allowed an unsustainable BABIP of .385, while otherwise limiting walks (5) and home runs (1). His 10 strikeouts over 15 innings is definitely low, but he wasn’t a whole lot higher as he worked his way through the Minors either. He’s a pitcher that will have to rely on his defense (which the Padres have a great group) and also pitching in the spacious parks of the NL West (which he’ll get to do a lot of).

Blue Jays’ Lineup

After mustering all of 3 hits and 1 walk, it was amazing that we got 3 runs last night. Thankfully for the Jays, Freddy Galvis’ bat emerged from its slumber, which at least brought a little bit of excitement for the crowd.

Brandon Drury went hitless last night, and probably won’t be in the lineup tonight. We might see an outfield of Cavan Biggio, Randal Grichuk and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. today, while Eric Sogard plays 2B. That’s probably how I would do things against the righty anyway.

Padres’ Lineup

With top catching prospect Francisco Mejia on the DL, defensive specialist Austin Hedges has been getting most of the starts for the Padres. With the off day on Thursday as a day of rest for him, it’s probably reasonable to think he’ll be back out there again today.

Canadian Josh Naylor got the start at DH last night, but I doubt they would DH him again today. NL teams that can take advantage of the DH opportunities usually like to cycle players through the DH spot. So I wouldn’t be surprised to see Naylor in the OF and see someone like Wil Myers DH.

Yesterday’s Heroes

Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story both hit a pair of home runs and got on base a third time (walk for Story and single for Arenado) as they both take a share of the Monster Bat award. Their offensive output helped the Rockies to the 8-6 win over the Orioles. Also of note from Story’s home runs:

Juan Soto hit a huge 3-run home run in the bottom of the 8th inning, turning a 9-8 deficit into an 11-9 lead, a hit that was worth .530 WPA. Both teams would add another run, but the Nationals held on for the 12-10 win over the Marlins, as Soto takes home the WPA King trophy with a .690 mark on the day.

Mike Foltynewicz made it through 6 innings last night, surrendering just an unearned run while limiting his opponent to 5 hits and no walks with 7 strikeouts. His Pitcher of the Day effort led his Braves to the 5-2 win over the host Cardinals.

Find the Link

Find the link between Quantrill and Colin Moran.

Stats are courtesy of Fangraphs