Game #88 Preview: Bellatti vs Berríos

After a horrible road trip, the Blue Jays return home to open up a short series against the visiting Phillies. Today’s game gets underway at the normal 7:07 ET start.

Blue Jays’ Starter

It seems like every day for the last week, we play the game of “will Kevin Gausman start today?” Once again, that answer is no, and José Berríos will get the start. Thanks to an Anthony Banda opening and a Max Castillo start, plus yesterday’s off day, we’re already 6 days removed from Berríos’ last start, so this is by no means a bump up.

Berríos holds the distinction of being the starting pitcher in the Jays’ last two wins, not something you want to see. But the good that you can draw from that is that he has pitched well his last two times out, which has certainly been a concern for him week to week. Over his last two starts, he has thrown 11 innings, allowing 3 runs on 12 hits and 3 walks, striking out 9. He also allowed just 1 home run in that span, which is a huge improvement from the rest of his season.

On the season Berríos has a 6-4 record with a 5.44 ERA. Of his 17 starts, 8 have been quality starts, and generally really good. But he also has also had 5 other starts where he allowed 5+ runs, plus the opening day stinker of 4 runs with only 1 out. Remarkably though, the Blue Jays are 12-5 in his starts this year, so for as bad as his ERA is, he’s not hurting the team as much as you’d expect.

Phillies’ Starter

It’s a bullpen day from the Phillies, with 30 year old Andrew Bellatti set to serve as the opener. It’ll be his first career start after 52 games in relief. For 2022, he’s doing fairly well, coming into play with a 1-3 record and a 3.14 ERA. He has 41 strikeouts in his 28.2 innings, although he has also been fairly prone to surrendering walks and home runs as well.

From there, the Phillies will send out a cavalcade of relievers, including former first overall draft pick Mark Appel. After fighting through injuries and retirement, the 30 year old finally made his Major League debut a couple weeks ago. He hasn’t pitched in a week now, so expect to see him get into the game at some point. And cheer extra loudly for him if you’re there. He’s definitely earned it.

Blue Jays’ Lineup

Danny Jansen is back, which means Gabriel Moreno is out. Moreno will get back to more regular playing time in Buffalo, and will probably be seen again before the summer is out.

Phillies’ Lineup

Selfish morons JT Realmuto and Alec Bohm have been placed on the restricted list, so the Phillies will be without two of their best bats for the series. Without those two, and with Bryce Harper on the IL, Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins are the only batters with more than 200 PA who are even sniffing a good season. The other 7 batters are hitting a combined .236/.293/.372 (85 wRC+).

Yesterday’s Heroes

Corey Dickerson went 2-3 with a home run, driving in 3 runs to take home the Monster Bat award. His bat helped his Cardinals take down the Phillies 6-1.

Yandy Díaz went 3-3 with a pair of doubles, driving in runs in the 2nd, 6th and 8th innings, and earning himself the WPA King award along the way. His .395 WPA was instrumental in the Rays’ 10-5 win over the Red Sox.

Despite there being only 10 games on the calendar yesterday, 6 different pitchers went at least 7 innings. Max Scherzer led the way with the most strikeouts (9), fewest walks (0) and fewest hits allowed (3), so he gets the Pitcher of the Day award. He also got the win, as his Mets beat the Braves 4-1.

Find the Link

Find the link between Odúbel Herrera, José Torres, Sam Dyson and Trevor Bauer.

Stats retrieved from Fangraphs and Baseball Savant