What were the highlights of Wednesday night on the diamond? Ray Flowers rifles through a few of the more notable story lines before he breaks down the batter versus pitcher matchups for Thursday, September 18th.
Clay Buchholz allowed five runs in four innings Wednesday. He has a 5.29 ERA and 1.41 WHIP on the year. I'm shocked that people still put faith in him. I've only been warning against depending on him for, what, three years now?
Lorenzo Cain had another three hits, including a homer, Wednesday night. He's only gone deep five times on the year, but he's also hit .298 and swiped 25 bases. He's finally stepped up.
Carlos Carrasco tossed a two hitter. Folks, he's allowed one or no runs in seven of his last eight starts for the Indians. Wow. His performance has finally reached his potential. Actually it's blown past that now. He's flat out killed it.
Sean Doolittle allowed five runs and only recorded one out Wednesday. Give him a break. The last time he had allowed a run was July 6th. He's picked up 21 saves with a 2.97 ERA, 0.76 WHIP and 83 Ks in 57.2 innings. He's also walked a mere seven batters. Fantastic season.
Derek Holland has pitched 27.1 innings. He allowed a run Wednesday night and now has a 0.99 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and has a 22/3 K/BB ratio for the Rangers. Didn't see this stupendous work coming, did you?
Jeff Samardzija has a 1.38 ERA in 13 no decisions this season. He has dropped his ERA down to 2.98 and has 190 Ks in 205.2 innings after seven scoreless innings Wednesday night. On the year he is 6-12 leaving him certain of a third straight losing season.
Danny Santana had four hits Wednesday to push his batting average back up to .324. Been a fantastic, out of nowhere effort. Ride it to the finish. Don't expect things to remain that rosie though. There is no way he can hold on to the 26.4 line drive rate or .401 BABIP that he's posted over 364 at-bats. He's also scored 64 runs while swiping 18 bags. Hell of a season.
Mark Teixeira went 0-for-3 to drop his average down to .217. He has 21 homers an 58 RBIs in 116 games and has basically become the new Adam Dunn. Not really a compliment.
Adam Wainwright had a rough spot, but sure seems like he's evened out that listing ship. Wednesday he tossed a complete game shutout needing just 102 pitches. In his 31 starts he's won 19 games, the third time in four years he's gotten there. He has a 2.45 ERA, the second best of his career. He has a 1.05 WHIP, tied for the lowest of his career. Rough patch be damned, other than the dip in his strikeout rate – 7.00 per nine, more than a batter below his mark the last four years – he's been exactly the same as always – a star.
Neil Walker hit his 21st homer and also tossed into the mix 70 RBIs and a .281/.353/.476 slash line. It's been a hell of a season.
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Batter Versus Pitcher
Daily Projections – For every single day of the season.
* NOTE: Players are listed in alphabetical order for the sake of making them easily sortable/findable. The matchups are also generated based on Batter vs. Pitcher data. Just because a player is not listed does not mean that he is a bad or good play. The players listed below are mentioned merely because of the BVP data for the matchup.
DISH DIAMONDS – The Best Hitting Matchups of the Day
Dustin Ackley has nine hits in 26 at-bats against Jered Weaver. That's a .346 batting average.
Howie Kendrick is doing his normal thing against Felix Hernandez. He's batting .293 in 75 at-bats.
Yadier Molina has 11 hits in 20 at-bats against Kyle Lohse. That's a .550 batting average. He's also hit three balls deep and drive in eight runs. Jhonny Peralta also has hit .364 over 22 at-bats while Matt Holiday is batting .357 in 28 at-bats.
Aramis Ramirez and Scooter Gennett are both 6-for-13 against Shelby Miller. Aramis has two homers and five RBIs.
Seth Smith has eight hits in 17 at-bats against Kyle Kendrick. That's a cool .471 mark.
Justin Smoak has a .294-3-8 line in 34 at-bats against Jered Weaver. Robinson Cano has hit .395 in 38 at-bats.
Luis Valbuena has seven hits in 18 at-bats against Zack Greinke. That's a .389 batting average.
DISH DISASTERS – Worst Hitting Matchups of the Day
Adrian Beltre is hitless in nine at-bats against Sonny Gray.
Matt Carpenter has one hit in 14 at-bats when Kyle Lohse is on the bump.
Josh Hamilton has hit .169 with 21 strikeouts in 65 at-bats against Felix Hernandez. Erick Aybar is batting .216 with a .536 OPS over 78 plate appearances.
Austin Jackson has two hits in 15 at-bats against Jered Weaver. Brad Miller has one hit in 13 at-bats. Mike Zunino has one hit in 10 at-bats.
Brian McCann has just six hits and five strikeouts in 26 at-bats against R.A. Dickey.
Shockingly, Jean Segura doesn't have a single hit in 15 at-bats against Shelby Miller. He also has six strikeouts.
MOUND MAVENS – Starting Pitchers to Target
Zack Greinke has a 2.10 ERA and 1.03 WHIP over his last nine starts. He faces the Cubs who, duh, don't exactly perform well against righties (.232/.291/.378).
Shelby Miller is pitching better. Honestly. He's allowed one run over his last three starts and there's been a quality start to be found in each of his last five outings for the Cardinals. He's made a couple of starts this season with a 3.00 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. He faces the Brewers.
Danny Salazar faces the Astros. Always hit or miss is he, but his stuff is amazing, and the Cubs strikeout rate is the worst in the AL. Since the All-Star break he has a 3.30 ERA, has allowed 55 hits in 57.1 innings and has struck out 56 batters.
MOUND MESSES – Starting Pitchers to Avoid
Gerrit Cole hasn't been great in three September starts. He's posted a 5.42 ERA with a 1.42 WHIP as he's allowed 22 hits in 18.1 innings. He faced the Red Sox at home where he has pitched well this season (3.48 ERA, 1.13 WHIP).
Sonny Gray has a 1.81 ERA in four starts against the Rangers this season. Still, he owns a 4.42 ERA over his last eight starts. Hard to trust him given the recent struggles and the slump the Athletics are in.
Vidal Nuno has pitched well, but he's in Coors Field today. He's also lost his last three outings and doesn't have a victory in 10 outings. Oh yeah, he allowed six runs in his last outing and he's also allowed a homer in 3-straight games.
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