Game #62 Preview: Zimmermann vs Berríos

The Blue Jays continue their four game series against the visiting Orioles, playing the third game of the series this evening. The game is once again set to get underway at 7:07 ET.

Blue Jays’ Starter

José Berríos will go for the Jays, looking to build off back to back great starts, his two best of the season by game score. Two starts ago was the game he struck out 13 Twins, allowing 2 runs over 7 innings. His last time out against the Tigers was even better, allowing just 1 run over 8 innings, although he struck out just 5 in that one. But he season numbers improved to 5-2 with a 4.73 ERA, and a bit better 4.41 FIP - still well short of where anyone expected him to be this season.

Orioles’ Starter

Left hander Bruce Zimmermann will go for the Orioles, making his 13th start of the season, which will be a new career high. If he makes it through 2.2 innings, he will have thrown more innings this year than either of the two previous, although the shortened 2020 season was his first in the big leagues.

Orioles’ fans probably aren’t super thrilled to see him setting career bests in innings already though, as he hasn’t really been an effective pitcher. So far this year he is 2-5 with a 5.52 ERA and a nearly identical 5.49 FIP. The one thing he does well is limit walks, but that just means he’s sitting in strike zone more than he should be, and he gets hit hard as a result. Among the 72 pitchers with at least 60 innings this year, only Hunter Greene has allowed more home runs per 9 innings than Zimmermann’s 2.18. As a lefty against this lineup, I don’t really like his chances of that number going down today.

Blue Jays’ Lineup

With the exception of opening day, Alejandro Kirk has caught every one of Berríos’ starts, and I wouldn’t expect any different today. I think the fit is for Kirk to catch Berríos and Manoah with some DH days in between, while the other catcher (be it Moreno or Jansen) catches the other three. Moreno might get the DH duties today against the lefty.

Speaking of Moreno

Matt Chapman returned to the lineup last night after missing the three previous games due to a wrist injury, and hit a pretty big home run in the 4th inning. Hopefully the wrist responds well today and he can stay in the lineup.

Orioles’ Starter

They showed their peskiness last night, and how the offensive part of their game has the ability to frustrate opponents and keep them in games.

Ryan Mountcastle especially showed what he can do last night, hitting a pair of doubles and a home run.

Trey Mancini was out of the lineup last night with a right hand injury. He is likely questionable for today, and could be out for the rest of the series.

After getting caught stealing in his first attempt on a great throw from Moreno, Jorge Mateo was successful on his next two attempts yesterday, moving him into sole possession of second place in the Majors with 16, one back of Julio Rodríguez of the Mariners.

Yesterday’s Heroes

Paul Goldschmidt had a remarkable double header yesterday, going 6-8 with 3 home runs and 3 single, as well as a walk. He drove in 8 runs, and easily walks away with the Monster Bat award. His Cardinals swept the double header over the Pirates 3-1 and 9-1.

Rhys Hoskins also had a big day, going 4-5 with a pair of home runs and 6 RBI. His 3-run home run in the 4th tied the game up at 4. His 2-run double in the 5th grew the lead to 8-4. And then his solo home run in the 8th gave his Phillies a 9-8 lead. But that still wasn’t enough, as the Marlins beat the Phillies 11-9. Hoskins’ efforts did get him the WPA King title though, with a .729 mark in a losing effort.

Despite falling just 1 strike short of a no-hitter, Miles Mikolas is not our Pitcher of the Day. That honour goes to Tyler Mahle, who completed 9 shutout innings. Mahle allowed just 3 hits while striking out 12 batters, but since he plays for the Reds, that wasn’t good enough. The game went to extras, and after the dust settled on 3 more crazy innings, the Reds did win 5-3.

Find the Link

Find the link between Ryan Mountcastle and Luis Ortiz.

Stats retrieved from Fangraphs and Baseball Savant