Game #50 Preview: Cueto vs Manoah

The Blue Jays will look to get their second sweep in a row, as they wrap up their three game series against the visiting White Sox. Today is getaway day, so keep in mind that the start of the game is scheduled for 3:07 ET.

Blue Jays’ Starter

Alek Manoah will get the opportunity to keep the seven game winning streak alive. This will be Manoah’s tenth start of the year, and so far he is 5-1 with a 1.77 ERA. The wins place him one back of the Major League lead, while the ERA is third among qualified starters. His 3.14 FIP places him closer to the cusp of the top third as opposed to the top three, but his ability to limit hard contact while playing in front of a solid defense makes him beating his FIP doable and a bit more sustainable. It would still be nice to see him bump up the strikeout rate closer to his rate from last season though.

White Sox’ Starter

CUUUUEEETTOOOO! CUUUUEEETTOOOO! CUUUUEEETTOOOO! CUUUUEEETTOOOOO!

Johnny Cueto gets the ball for the White Sox, making just his fourth start of the season. Joining the White Sox near the start of the regular season on a Minor League deal, it took Cueto a bit of time in AAA to get built up to regular season form. After four starts in AAA, he earned the callup while Lance Lynn and Lucas Giolito were on the IL. Now that the White Sox have DFA’d Dallas Keuchel, Cueto probably gets a bit more of a look in the rotation.

Cueto has done fairly well in his short time. Through 18.2 innings, he has allowed 5 runs on 17 hits and 7 walks, striking out 14. Just like Michael Kopech yesterday, Cueto enters play today having yet to surrender a home run this year.

Blue Jays’ Lineup

Despite his heroics yesterday, don’t expect to see Danny Jansen in the lineup today. Prior to back to back starts at catcher, he missed a game with a sore hip. So with the day game today, and Manoah on the mound, he absolutely wasn’t going to catch regardless, but he won’t likely find himself at DH either.

George Springer, who was out of the lineup yesterday with what the team is calling a non-COVID illness, is probably a gametime decision today. The reports yesterday were that he wasn’t terrible, and was even in the clubhouse, so apart from hoping he didn’t spread it to anyone else, we’ll also hope he’s back and healthy. I’d guess he’ll DH if he is back in the lineup.

Cavan Biggio was on the bench yesterday, but Cueto seems like the kind of pitcher he’d have success against, and will likely be in the lineup again today. The where probably depends on how George Springer is feeling, but I’d guess Biggio is wearing an outfielder’s glove today.

White Sox’ Lineup

Another day, another day out of the starting lineup for Yoán Moncada. He did strikeout in a PH opportunity last night though, so he must be getting close to a return to regular action.

Yesterday the White Sox started all four of their listed bench players, so with the day game after a night game, they might opt to go back to many of their “regulars”.

Luis Robert returned to the starting lineup last night, his first game in 10 days. He was just the DH last night, but as he works his way back from COVID, he’ll be finding himself in CF soon.

Yesterday’s Heroes

Brendan Rodgers had a pretty big day in the Rockies’ - Marlins double header. After going 1-3 with a double and a walk in the 14-1 trouncing by the Marlins in the first game, the Rockies turned it on in the second game, winning 13-12 on the strength of Rodgers. Our Monster Bat winner went 3-5 in that game, launching 3 home runs, scoring 4 times and driving in 4. And to cap off that game, Rodgers hit a leadoff, walkoff two run home run in the bottom of the 10th, sealing his WPA King trophy win with a .595 WPA on the day.

Tarik Skubal had a very strong start for the Tigers, going 7 shutout innings while allowing just 2 hits and a walk while striking out 6. He earned the Pitcher of the Day, as well as the win, and his Tigers shut out the Twins 5-0.

Find the Link

Find the link between Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez.

Stats retrieved from Fangraphs and Baseball Savant