Once more into the breach. Ray Flowers breaks down the batter versus pitcher data for Wednesday June 25th. He also speaks of Bigfoot, a very odd situation with a sculpture, and what you should be doing if you're interested in toning up your stomach muscles.
* 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
Adrian Beltre is turning sample size on it's head Wednesday. He has only eight at-bats against Anibal Sanchez but he's produced six hits and three RBIs.
Adrian Gonzalez has a homer and the following slash line against James Shields: .348/.423/.478 (26 plate appearances).
Chase Headley is hit or miss this season. Same thing when he faces Tim Lincecum. Chase has struck out 16 times in 47 at-bats. Terrible. However, he's also hit four homer and four doubles while driving in nine runs. That leaves him with a .992 OPS. Strikeouts be damned. Everth Cabrera has hit only .263 but he has a .462 OBP over 26 plate appearances. He's also swiped an impressive six bags. Seth Smith has also hit three homers with a .972 OPS over 40 plate appearances.
Omar Infante... wow. That's the reaction that 10 hits in 18 at-bats elicits. Those are the numbers the second sacker has produced against Dan Haren.
Was Bigfoot captured on film by a trail cam?
Buster Posey has 11 hits in 30 at-bats against Ian Kennedy. He's yet to go deep but a .367/.441/.467 line is still special.
Jose Reyes has stolen a bag and hit .450 over 20 at-bats against Hiroki Kuroda. Anthony Gose has only faced the old fella 10 times but he's produced five hits including a homer and two doubles.
Dayan Viciedo doesn't mind facing Ubaldo Jimenez. In the 18 battles they've had he's produced seven hits leading to a .389 average and two RBIs. Gordon Beckham has also had success, as shocking as it sounds, as he's hit .318 with a homer and three RBIs in 22 at-bats.
Joey Votto has hit two big flies leading to a 1.219 OPS over his 22 trips to the dish against Edwin Jackson. It's 11 at-bats, but Bryan Pena has gone .455-2-3 against EJax.
DISH DISASTERS – Worst Hitting Matchups of the Day
Starlin Castro has hit .240 with one RBI an a .480 OPS against Mat Latos over 25 plate appearances. That isn't good. Nate Schierholtz has three RBIs, but he's also batting .200 with six Ks. But oh it's Darwin Barney that takes the cake. Barney has one hit in 15 trips to the dish. He can't hit anyone – at all.
Zack Cozart might be a wonderful human being, he might feed the poor and donate his time to orphans, but he has no idea how to hit the baseball. None. He's 1-for-14 against Edwin Jackson. Ryan Ludwick is another who struggles in the matchup hitting .176 with seven strikeouts in 17 at-bats. Jay Bruce has the same .176 average but he has only six Ks. Still terrible of course.
Adam Dunn struggles against Ubaldo Jimenez. He's hit .156 with one homer. That's terrible. But it's much, much worse than that. In those 32 at-bats he's struck out, and this is truly remarkable, 19 times. He shouldn't be on the field for the White Sox. Alejandro De Aza has hit .217 with eight Ks in his 23 at-bats.
Alex Gordon has three hits in 16 at-bats when facing Dan Haren. Alcides Escobar has two hits in 12 at-bats.
Ryan Hanigan has one hit in 14 at-bats when he's facing off against David Price. No bueno.
I had a guy on twitter give me a compliment Tuesday. He said my writing is “sometimes” funny. Hey, it's progress from the normally dry drivel I toss out there.
Cameron Maybin has four hits in 22 at-bats against The Freak. He has stolen two bases but that .477 OPS is unsightly. Will Venable has stolen five bases but he's also posted a .578 OPS over 53 plate appearances.
Colby Rasmus has 12 punchouts in 28 at-bats against Hiroki Kuroda. He's also got three hits, one of which is a homer. You shouldn't care. Bench him. Also have Adam Lind on the pine. He's produced two hits in 16 at-bats.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia has one hit in 14 at-bats against A.J. Burnett. He's also whiffed an astounding nine times.
Pablo Sandoval is hitting, so you never know, but he's never really hit Ian Kennedy well. In 42 at-bats he's struck out eight times while posting a terrible .238 average and .576 OPS. Brandon Crawford is even worse (.200/.231/.280). The worstest (love that fake word)? Tyler Colvin has a goose-egg in 14 at-bats. He's also struck out seven times.
Bookmark the following three sources to check daily after you read this piece.
Batter Versus Pitcher
Daily Projections – For every single day of the season.
MOUND MAVENS – Starting Pitchers to Target
A.J. Burnett against the Marlins in Philly. That's the matchup. Over his last three outings Burnett has allowed six runs while averaging eight innings pitched. He's also walked just three batters totally turning around the one issue that had plagued him most of the year (the walk). He'll look for his second win of the year against the Marlins (5 IP, 3 ER back on May 20th).
Corey Kluber pitches on the road against the Diamondbacks. His ERA on the road this year is a solid 3.69 but that WHIP is elevated at 1.49. Still, pretty hard to bench a guy who has been effective as Kluber has been this season when he's facing a club that has hit .236 with a .638 OPS the past two weeks.
Mat Latos faces the Cubs, the 7th worst offense against righties according to OPS. Latos has long held the knife to the throat of the Cubs (2.83 ERA, 1.17 WHIP over nine starts) and he'll look to rebound after a rough outing last time out (5.2 IP, 5 ER).
"Student Gets Trapped In Vagina Sculpture". I mean, you can't make up a story like this one.
Collin McHugh faces the Braves in Houston Wednesday. He's sporting a 2.76 ERA on the year to go along with a 1.09 WHIP. I know, right? The Braves are terrible against righties, third worst in team OPS (.655), so that will help. McHugh has also enjoyed success at home with a 1.18 WHIP this year though it would be disingenuous not to point out that he also has a 4.18 ERA at home and that he's failed to record more than 15 outs in three of his last four trips to the bump.
Garrett Richards has allowed two runs in his four starts on his way to a 3-0 record. He's struck out 30 batters while walking six and hasn't allowed a homer. He's hot. He faces the Twins in Anaheim.
MOUND MESSES – Starting Pitchers to Avoid
Dan Haren has allowed a homer in 8-straight starts (12 overall). In his last seven outings he's been unable to work more than 6.1 innings. Moreover, Haren has struck out exactly two batters in four of his last five outings. What has happened Dan? Talk about a low upside play Wednesday against the Royals.
I've been working on my abs, but I haven't been doing it like this. Have I been doing it wrong?
Drew Hutchison pitches at home against he Yankees. He faced the Yankees in his last start on June 19th and the didn't make it through five innings as he allowed four walks and four runs to bump his ERA against the Yankees over three starts to 7.27. Drew has also struck out just seven batters in his last three games and 15 in his last five. He's in a funk.
Hisashi Iwakuma gave up five runs in his last outing, and concerns about his neck are lingering even though everyone is saying he's fine. He also pitches at home where he's worked six times this season with a 2.64 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. Still, his last effort, the health woes, and the fact that 8.2 innings of work against the Red Sox has produced a 7.27 ERA and 2.08 WHIP... all that makes Hisashi risky to trust.
James Shields has been spotty this season. He's battled, he's had some nice outings, but he's also given up at least five runs in three of his last five starts. He's also allowed nine homers in his last six games, has only 16 strikeouts in his last four games and has allowed at least eight hits in seven of his last eight trips to the bump. He faces the Dodgers in Kansas City.
Zack Wheeler is coming off a shutout in his last outing. However, don't overlook that in his previous two outings he picked up loses, allowed eight runs, and worked just 8.2 innings. He faces an Athletics club that is 4th in baseball with a .757 OPS against righties and they are second in baseball in runs scored against righties.
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