Game #104 Preview: Plesac vs Ryu

After yesterday’s extra inning loss, the Blue Jays will look to even the series against Cleveland this evening. Gametime is set for the standard 7:07 ET start.

Blue Jays’ Starter

Ace Hyun Jin Ryu will head back to mound, looking to continue his run of success that he has seen recently. In 2 of his last 3 starts, he has gone at least 6 shutout innings, with a combined 5 hits and a walk over 13 innings. Those start sandwich a rougher outing in New York, when he couldn’t make it out of the 5th, but he’s otherwise looked like normal Ryu lately. This recent run has his numbers improving to 10-5 with a 3.26 ERA over his 20 starts this year.

Ryu faced Cleveland when these two teams met earlier this year, getting the start on May 28. He lasted just 5 innings, but allowed just 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks, striking out 6. He was pulled after 91 pitches, which is about 3 pitches per inning higher than his average this year.

Cleveland Starter

Young righty Zach Plesac will make his 15th start of the season, still struggling to find whatever made him one of the more dominant starters in last year’s shortened season (spoiler: playing only central teams likely helped a lot). He is still putting up decent numbers this year, currently sitting with a 6-3 record and a 4.26 ERA with 52 strikeouts in 80.1 innings. But last year through 8 starts, he was 4-2 with a 2.28 ERA, averaging nearly 7 innings per start while he struck out 57 in 55.1 innings.

Blue Jays’ Lineup

Corey Dickerson, who is already in Toronto and took batting practice with the team yesterday, is probably going to be activated today. The counter move will probably be Breyvic Valera, but the Jays would need to DFA him if they want him off the roster, as he does not have any remaining options.

A different move to get Dickerson on the roster would be sending someone to the Injured List. I don’t expect this to be the case, but the way both Cavan Biggio and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. have been playing all year, neither seem to be fully healthy. Biggio missed time earlier this year with neck problems, and still wears the Kt Tape on his neck, which to me signifies that he’s still feeling some ill effects from that injury. But while neither of them seem to be 100%, without a more recent injury that can be pointed to, I doubt they head to the IL.

Alejandro Kirk has now caught 3 of the last 4 games, the ratio of playing time that I would like to see him get. I know it won’t quite be that frequent, but 3 of 5 should be doable. But either way, expect Reese McGuire behind the plate today catching Ryu.

Cleveland Lineup

José Ramírez, one of the few remaining good hitters on the team (he and Franmil Reyes are the only regulars above 100 wRC+), helped lead the way to the win last night with the big home run in the top of the 10th. Buck mentioned on the broadcast that it was his first home run in Rogers Centre, which I didn’t believe, but it turns out that it’s true. Through his first 17 games in Toronto, he hit .275/.301/.304 with just a pair of doubles over 73 plate appearances. So the 150th home run of his career finally netted him one in the Rogers Centre. Of all the AL ballparks he has played in, he still doesn’t have one in Fenway either.

Elsewhere in the lineup, since the Jays are sending out a lefty again, expect to see Ernie Clement and Oscar Mercado in the lineup again, while Bobby Bradley and Bradley Zimmer likely sit on the bench again. That’ll make 9 right handed batters in the lineup again.

Expect Roberto Pérez to be back behind the plate in this one, while he and Austin Hedges seem to alternate back and forth on who is starting.

Yesterday’s Heroes

Eduardo Escobar went 2-2 with a home run and a triple while also drawing a pair of walks and driving in 4 runs to pick up the Monster Bat award. He helped carry his Brewers to the 6-3 win over the Pirates.

Jean Segura hit a game tying double in the top of the 9th, setting up another pair of runs to come in as well, as the Phillies beat the Nationals 7-5. For his efforts, Segura gets the WPA King award with a .486 mark.

Jorge López held the Yankees to just 1 run on 1 hit over 6 innings, picking up the Pitcher of the Day award as a result. Sure, he was wild with 5 walks and a bean ball, but he worked around those issues and got the win as the Orioles beat the Yankees 7-1.

Find the Link

Find the link between José Ramírez and Paul Goldschmidt.

Stats retrieved from Fangraphs and Baseball Savant