Game #96 Preview: Waguespack vs Cashner

After their comeback fell short last night, the Blue Jays will be back at it again this evening against the Red Sox, trying to even up the series. Tonight’s game gets underway at 7:10 ET.

Blue Jays’ Starter

The Blue Jays are expected to recall Jacob Waguespack for today’s game. Waguespack, who came over to the Jays at last year’s trade deadline from the Phillies for Aaron Loup, has made two appearances so far in his big league career but has yet to actually make an official start. Whether that happens today or the Jays go with an opener again remains to be seen at this point.

Waguespack has pitched a total of 9 innings in his big league career, allowing 6 runs on 9 hits, striking out 11 while walking 1 and allowing a home run. Of his 9 innings, 5 of them came as a bulk guy on July 3 against the Red Sox, where he allowed 3 runs, including a home run to Christian Vazquez.

Red Sox Starter

The Red Sox will go with newly acquired starter Andrew Cashner. Cashner came over to the Sox from the Orioles for a pair of 17 year old Minor Leaguers late last week. The Orioles traded him away at the perfect time, as he is coming off a string of 5 consecutive starts where he went 6+ innings, allowing a total of 5 earned runs in 32 innings.

In Baltimore, Cashner was 9-3 with a 3.83 ERA, having accounted for exactly ¹⁄₃ of the Orioles wins at the time of his trade. His peripherals weren’t quite as good as his results in Baltimore though, as he continues to struggle getting strikeouts, with just 6.17 per 9 innings. He has been able to limit the walks and home runs, which allowed him to bounce back from a very bad year last year.

Cashner faced the Jays twice already this year, and predictably had two of his best starts of 2019. Combined he has thrown 13 innings, allowing just a single run on 7 hits, walking 3 and striking out 7.

Blue Jays’ Lineup

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. should be back in the lineup after what seemed to be a scheduled day off for the struggling rookie.

Teoscar Hernandez had the night off as well, as he continues to try and work out of his season long funk, which is a bit worse right now. Since his last walk on June 21, he is just 8-45 with a home run and double, striking out 18 times. With Dalton Pompey making it past the halfway mark on his rehab assignment, making his first appearance in Buffalo last night, Teoscar may be nearing a trip to the Minor Leagues.

Red Sox Lineup

Michael Chavis had the big blow last night, and is having a pretty good rookie season taking over the reigns from Dustin Pedroia at second base originally, but now has moved over to 1B with Mitch Moreland and Steve Pearce on the Injured List. His grand slam last night was his 16th home run of the season, and he is now hitting .259/.330/.465 (105 wRC+) on the season. After DFA’ing Eduardo Nuñez yesterday and recalling first baseman Sam Travis, Chavis will probably get some more reps back at second base moving forward.

Catcher Christian Vazquez didn’t get the start last night, but he will be in there today. Vazquez is in the midst of a career year, hitting .297/.333/.523 (116 wRC+) over 286 plate appearances. He already has 15 home runs, 5 more than he had in his previous 999 career plate appearances. Couple that with his as-always great defense, and the Red Sox have arguably the best catcher in the AL now.

Yesterday’s Heroes

Former Blue Jay Travis d’Arnaud had a huge night last night, going 3-3 while launching 3 home runs and drawing a pair of walks. He drove in 5, including a huge 2-out, 3-run home run in the top of the 9th that turned a 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 lead. He was worth an amazing .953 WPA, easily winning the WPA King title as the Rays held on for the 5-4 win over the Yankees.

However, that all wasn’t good enough for the Monster Bat award. Brandon Crawford took 2 games to get there, but in 10 plate appearances, Crawford went 6-9 with 3 home runs, 3 singles and a walk while driving in 9 runs across the two games in Colorado. Crawford’s Giants took both games of the double header against the Rockies, the first one 19-2 and the second 2-1.

Miles Mikolas threw the second complete game shutout of his career last night, as he kept the Pirates off the scoreboard in the Cardinals 7-0 win. Mikolas allowed 8 hits, walking none and striking out just 3, but that was more than enough to win the Pitcher of the Day award.

Find the Link

Find the link between Cashner and Josh Tomlin.

Stats are courtesy of Fangraphs