Game #45 Preview: Lugo vs Ray

After a very forgettable game yesterday, the Blue Jays are ready to move on, and the good thing about baseball is that there’s usually a game the next day in which to do so. The Jays will play game 2 against the Mets this evening, because Saturday evening baseball is apparently the best thing, getting underway at 6:37 EDT.

Blue Jays’ Starter

Left hander Robbie Ray will make his 3rd appearance and 2nd start as a Blue Jay since coming over at the trade deadline. So far with the Jays, things are looking about as rough for him here as they did in Arizona, as even though he has been able to get his walks under control a little bit better, he has allowed a few home runs in his short time here.

Overall, Ray is 1-4 with a 7.51 ERA, striking out a lot of batters (12.21 per 9 innings), but walking an obscene amount (8.22 per 9 innings) and allowing a lot of home runs (2.82 per 9 innings). Nobody in baseball who has thrown as many innings as he has (38.1) has worse rates for walks or home runs. But he is at least 9th in strikeout rate among the 110 pitchers who have thrown at least 30 innings.

Mets’ Starter

The Mets will counter with veteran right hander Seth Lugo. Lugo began his season in the bullpen, but thanks to the success he had there, has worked his way back into the rotation. After 9 relief appearances, he has now made 3 starts, working up to 5 innings his last go around, and he’s probably ready to be fully unleashed after throwing 81 pitches his last time out.

On the season, Lugo is 2-2 with a 2.05 ERA. Over 22 innings, he has allowed 16 hits and 6 walks, striking out 31 while allowing 3 home runs. That effectiveness has been pretty much carried over to his starts too, as his walk rate in his 3 starts is the only thing that is worse compared to his overall body of work.

Blue Jays’ Lineup

Alejandro Kirk will likely make his Major League debut today after being added to the roster yesterday. In his 3 seasons in the low Minors, Kirk hit .315/.418/.500 with 89 walks to just 50 strikeouts over 619 PA, but all at the lower levels so we really have no way of translating that to the Majors. He will be an exciting and fun kid to watch play though.

Bo Bichette might be back today. He was scheduled to play 7 simulated innings at SS in Rochester yesterday, and then be re-evaluated today. I would imagine if he is back, it’ll be closer to a game time announcement as opposed to anything early this afternoon.

Mets’ Lineup

They scored a lot of runs yesterday, and have the ability to do that most nights. Even before their big outburst, they led the league in wRC+, and that number has now grown to 124.

With the lefty on the mound today, it seems like the Mets will roll out 3 platoons. That means that Jake Marisnick, who came into the game to relieve Michael Conforto yesterday, will likely be in CF in place of Brandon Nimmo. At SS, Amed Rosario will likely start over Andres Jimenez. And Todd Frazier will likely be in instead of Jeff McNeil, pushing players all over the diamond.

Yesterday’s Heroes

Luke Voit went 4-7 across a pair of games yesterday, knocking out 2 home runs and driving in 6 runs to pick up the Monster Bat award. His output helped his Yankees to the double header sweep of the Orioles by scores of 6-0 and 10-1.

Luis Castillo pitched a complete game yesterday, allowing just 1 run on 2 hits and 3 walks, striking out 6 to pick up the Pitcher of the Day award. And since the game was close, he also gets WPA King with a .508 mark. He led his Reds to the 3-1 victory over the home town Cardinals.

Find the Link

Find the link between Jake Marisnick and Chris Coghlan.