Game #11 Preview: Taillon vs Ryu

After a tight pitchers’ duel last night, the Blue Jays and Yankees go at it again for what could line up as another pitchers’ duel in game 2 of their 3 game series. First pitch is scheduled or 7:07 ET.

Blue Jays’ Starter

Hyun Jin Ryu will make his third start of the season, but is still looking for his first victory. The Jays’ won in 10 innings on Opening Day against these same Yankees, which gave Ryu a no decision, and he was the tough luck loser his last time out in the 2-1 loss to the Rangers. However, he has looked quite great while on the mound, and hopefully will continue to do so. Through his 12.1 innings so far, he has allowed 4 runs on 11 hits and a walk, striking out 12. He allowed a home run in each start, with Gary Sanchez touching him up for a 2-run shot back in the first game of the season.

Yankees’ Starter

Jameson Taillon will make his second start of his budding Yankees’ career. The former Pirate, who has made now just 8 starts since the end of the 2018 season, seems healthy and ready to go following surgery in 2017 for testicular cancer and Tommy John Surgery in 2019.

He looked fairly solid, albeit with reduced velocity, in his first start since in nearly two years. He made it through 4.2 innings against the Orioles, surrendering 2 runs on 3 hits and no walks, 2 of those hits being solo home runs. He also struck out an impressive 7 batters.

Taillon features a large mix of pitches - 4-seamer, sinker, slider, curveball and changeup. His sinker, slider and curveball have all been valuable pitches, while his 4-seamer is his go-to workhorse pitch, and his changeup helps to limit the damage from lefties. Overall, the ceiling is high for Taillon, so long as he can be healthy.

Blue Jays’ Lineup

Danny Jansen got the night off last night in lieu of Alejandro Kirk, but Jansen will definitely be back behind the plate to catch Ryu, like he usually does. While Jansen isn’t starting the season well at the plate, he is at least putting together long at bats, but just isn’t squaring the ball up.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Randal Grichuk all continued their strong starts to the season in spite of Gerrit Cole being on the mound. I’m happy to see them grouped together in the lineup.

In case you missed it yesterday, Rowdy Tellez finally picked up his first hit of the season in last night’s game, lining a 108.7 mph ball right back up the chute for a single. He’s the Blue Jays’ hard hit and exit velocity leader, but he’s also struggling with launch angle, and especially strikeouts. So while the hard hits are nice to see, they’re not what he needs to fix in his approach at the plate.

Yankees’ Lineup

While Aaron Judge has been very solid at the plate overall in 2021, the Blue Jays have managed to keep him from inflicting too much damage. He is 3-16, all singles, has yet to score or drive in a run, and the 2 walks from yesterday were his only ones against the Jays. The Jays’ killing will come soon though, so enjoy this early season calm.

Kyle Higashioka continued his assault on Jays’ pitching last night, but thankfully he isn’t likely to be in the lineup tonight, likely giving way to Gary Sanchez. In his short career, Higashioka has inexplicably done so much more damage against the Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays’ pitchers managed to keep DJ LeMahieu off the bases yesterday, striking him out 3 times. This is the result that I like to see.

Yesterday’s Heroes

Higashioka, with his 2 home runs and 3 RBI, gets the Monster Bat award.

Tyler Glasnow was sensational for the Rays last night. He threw 7.2 shutout innings, holding the Rangers off the board while waiting patiently for his team to put up a run (which they finally did in the bottom o the 7th). Glasnow allowed just 2 hits and a walk, striking out 14 and picking up the Pitcher of the Day award. And since he pitched so well for so long in a close game, he racked up a .501 WPA, and takes home the WPA King title as well.

Find the Link

Find the link between Aaron Judge and David Wells.

Stats retrieved from Fangraphs and Baseball Savant