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The Blue Jays will look to keep up their winning ways against the Braves, as they play game two of their three game set this evening. Gametime is once again set for 7:20 ET.
Blue Jays’ Starter
The Blue Jays will send out Ace Hyun Jin Ryu, making his 7th start of the year. So far on the season through 32.2 innings, Ryu is 2-2 with a 3.31 ERA, and ERA estimators such as xERA and FIP are both roughly in line with that number. That’s thanks to Ryu doing a fantastic job limiting walks and home runs (just 4 of each) while striking out pretty much a batter per inning. He’s also among the league leaders in limiting the number of balls that batters can barrel up, which really helps with the balls in play off him.
Braves’ Starter
The Braves will send out lefty Max Fried (pronounced FREED) for this one. This will be Fried’s fifth start of the year, and he’s off to a rough start overall. Through 16 innings, he has allowed 16 runs (15 earned) on 27 hits, 6 walks and 4 home runs. However, he has struck out 20 batters in that time, and if you’re looking for good signs from him, he allowed just 1 run in 5 strong innings his last time out.
Fried is pretty much a 3-pitch pitcher. His primary weapon is a fastball that is averaging 93.8 mph, which he throws roughly 40% of the time. He will mix that with a combination of a slider and a curveball, throwing both against both handed hitters, although the curveball sees more actions against righties than the slider. He may also drop a sinker or changeup, but those are pretty much just waste pitches.
Blue Jays’ Lineup
The Jays will have a very right handed heavy lineup, with only Cavan Biggio batting from the left side. For his career, Fried has allowed a .329 wOBA against righties as opposed to a .294 wOBA against lefties, so if Biggio is going to get a day off in lieu of Santiago Espinal, this would be an alright one to do it in.
Danny Jansen will be back behind the plate in this one, facing the lefty and catching Hyun Jin Ryu.
Since this is another game in a National League park, Ryu will have to bat as well, and will try to show off his hitting pedigree. In yesterday’s game, Robbie Ray bunt popped out to the pitcher and also hit a soft grounder back to him. Expect the same level of excitement out of the 9-hole again tonight!
Braves’ Lineup
The Braves have 5 regulars under the age of 25, plus Dansby Swanson, Freddie Freeman and Marcell Ozuna, all of whom are known to play every game. So don’t expect to see a different lineup from the Braves tonight, with the exception of the pitcher’s spot.
Speaking of the Braves’ pitchers, they’re easily the best hitting group in all of the National League, entering play today with a collective .204/.204/.389 (56 wRC+) line. That is buoyed by some awesome hitting stats by Huascar Ynoa with a pair of homers and a double, but Fried is 2-6 with a double so far this season.
Yesterday’s Heroes
Asdrubal Cabrera (he’s still playing?!) went 4-5 with a home run and a double to pick up the Monster Bat award. He was a pivotal cog in the Diamondback’s wheel as they steamrolled the Marlins 11-3.
Gavin Lux had a 2-out, 3-run home run in the bottom of the 8th, turning a 4-3 deficit into a 6-4 lead. That home run alone was worth .669 WPA, and Lux walks home with the WPA King total of .642. The Dodgers held on to that 6-4 score to beat the Mariners.
Freddy Peralta threw 7 scoreless innings, allowing only 1 hit, 1 walk and 1 hit by pitch while striking out 8 batters to win the Pitcher of the Day award. Unfortunately for him, his teammates didn’t help him out at all, and the Brewers lost to the Cardinals in 11 innings by a score of 6-1.
Find the Link
Find the link between Freddie Freeman, Tommy Holmes and Lee Maye (but surprisingly not Hank Aaron).