Game #13 Preview: Turnbull vs Bassitt

The Blue Jays will attempt to get their first sweep of the season this evening, as they wrap up their home opening series against the Tigers. Tonight’s game is once again set for the regular 7:07 ET start.

Blue Jays’ Starter

Newcomer Chris Bassitt will look to build off the momentum from his last start and look to build a fanbase in Toronto. He made a lot of people nervous with his first outing against the Cardinals, giving up 9 runs on 10 hits, including 4 home runs. But he came back in his next outing and turned things around. After struggling with PitchCom out of the gate and giving up 2 quick runs on a walk and a home run, he proceeded to give up just 1 unearned run on 1 hit over 6 innings from then on. His mix of pitches looked good, and he finally looked comfortable on the mound.

Tigers’ Starter

Veteran right hander Spencer Turnbull will get the start for the Tigers. The 30 year old right hander will look to turn his season around after a pair of disastrous starts to open the season. In just 8 innings over his 2 starts, Turnbull has allowed 12 runs on 13 hits and 5 walks. He is throwing the ball harder than ever before, but that extra velocity has gotten him just 4 strikeouts thus far, with a lot of hard hit balls.

Blue Jays’ Lineup

With a righty back on the mound, expect to see a lineup full of lefties again. Brandon Belt will look to build off his 3 hit performance from Tuesday, while Cavan Biggio will most likely be back in the lineup as well.

Daulton Varsho took a pitch off his foot yesterday, so there’s a chance that the Jays give him the day off today as he deals with pain. The team hasn’t announced anything about going for x-rays, so the hope is that they don’t expect there to be any damage.

Alejandro Kirk should be the one catching Bassitt tonight.

Tigers’ Lineup

Today is Miguel Cabrera’s last game in Toronto. The Blue Jays are going to be having a pre-game ceremony for him.

Akil Baddoo didn’t get the start yesterday, but expect to see him back in there and at the top of the lineup again today.

With Matt Manning going on the IL prior to yesterday’s game, the Tigers called up third baseman and outfielder Tyler Nevin. Nevin didn’t get into the game yesterday, but he doesn’t seem like someone who will ride the bench the whole time he’s on the roster either, so don’t be surprised if he does make an appearance today.

Eric Haase made the start behind the plate yesterday, so it’s likely back to Jake Rogers today.

Yesterday’s Heroes

Max Muncy had his second 2 homer game in 3 days, this time going 2-5 with 4 RBI. That’s good enough to get the Monster Bat award, as his Dodgers doubled up the Giants 10-5.

AJ Puk worked a scoreless bottom of the 9th and bottom of the 10th, picking up the win in extra innings and accumulating a lot of WPA along the way. Thanks to the extra inning 1-run win, Puk gets the WPA King trophy with a .583 mark, as his Marlins beat the Phillies 3-2.

Kevin Gausman’s great work last night earns him the Pitcher of the Day award. Nobody else made it out of the 7th inning, so Gausman’s 8 innings with 3 runs on 5 hits and no walks with 11 strikeouts reigns supreme, despite his no decision in the Jays’ 4-3 win over the Tigers.

Find the Link

Find the link between Miguel Cabrera, Frank Thomas and nobody else since Roger Maris.

Stats retrieved from Fangraphs and Baseball Savant