Game #22 Preview: Gausman vs Schmidt

The Blue Jays wrap up their first series in the Bronx, looking to earn the series win over the Yankees. Gametime today is inexplicably later than yesterdays, set to start at 1:35 ET today.

Blue Jays’ Starter

Kevin Gausman goes for the Jays, making his fifth start of the season and looking to bounce back from his first bad one. On the year, Gausman is 1-2 with a 3.65 ERA and an equal 3.64 FIP. But both of those numbers took a huge jump at the start of this road trip in Houston, when he allowed 7 runs in the first inning en route to allowing 8 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks over 4.2 innings. He allowed 2 home runs in that start as well, and has allowed 2 in each of his last two starts after allowing none in his first two.

Yankees’ Starter

The Yankees will go with right hander Clarke Schmidt in this one, also making his fifth start of the year. Schmidt certainly wasn’t expected to be a key contributor in the Yankees’ rotation to start the year, but injuries to Carlos Rodón, Luis Severino and Frankie Montas has necessitated the need to go to the depth the Yankees have.

On the year, things have not gone well for Schmidt. He is 0-1 with an 8.79 ERA over just 14.1 innings. He has pitched into the 4th inning in all of his starts, but has completed that 4th inning just once. He has consistently let up either 3 or 4 runs on 5 or 6 hits. In total, he has 16 strikeouts, which is good, but also has allowed 5 walks and 4 home runs. The walks are roughly league average, while the home runs far exceed that.

Blue Jays’ Lineup

Yankees’ Lineup

Yesterday’s Heroes

Adolis García had a game for the ages yesterday. He went 5-5 with 3 home runs and 2 doubles, plus a bean ball. He drove in 8 runs and scored 5 times, easily taking home the Monster Bat award. The rest of his team had a good night as well, as the Rangers took down the Pathetics Athletics 18-3.

Randy Arozarena also had a good game yesterday, starting things off with a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 1st, then walking things off with a single in the 10th. Add in another RBI single halfway through in the bottom of the 5th, and Arozarena drove in all the runs in the Rays’ 4-3 win over the White Sox. Thanks to that output, Arozarena is the WPA King, putting up a .585 mark on the day.

Alek Manoah gets the Pitcher of the Day award for his efforts yesterday, throwing 7 shutout innings while allowing just 2 hits and a walk while striking out 5. Unfortunately that wasn’t enough, but we’ve moved on.

Find the Link

Find the link between Kyle Higashioka and former Jays’ farmhands Cristian and Tim Lopes

Stats retrieved from Fangraphs and Baseball Savant