- Joined
- Oct 3, 2019
- Messages
- 9,846
- Reaction score
- 28,188
- Points
- 135
Four games in Canada against the 54-48 Blue Jays with the Indians trying to avoid falling below .500, although that's not the most important thing they're concerned with right now. The Jays have won 5 of 6. They went 2-1 against the Tribe in Cleveland in late May, outscoring them 20-8.
The Jays are an offensive juggernaut, ranking 2nd in the A.L. in scoring and wRC+, 3rd in on-base percentage, and 1st in home runs. They have George Springer back after he missed nearly the first three months of the season and he's hitting .266/.951. Of course it all starts with Vlad (.327/1.078) but they have a lot of really good bats with Marcus Semien (.275/.871), Bo Bichette (.295/.831), Teoscar Hernandez (.291/.829), and Santiago Espinal (.312/.790). Just a nasty gauntlet of hitters to go through. The Jays touched up Tribe pitchers for 20 runs in three games in May; they could easily get 30 in four games this week.
They rank 6th in the A.L. in team ERA and 11th in home runs allowed, so they give up a few long balls. They acquired Brad Hand and Joakim Soria at the trade deadline to strengthen the bullpen. The big trade was for starter Jose Berrios, but we won't see him.
Tonight Eli Morgan faces LHP Robbie Ray, 9-5, 3.04. Ray is the first of three left-handed starters the Indians will face in this series. Ray is on a roll with a 1.99 ERA in five July starts. He's especially tough with two out and RISP as batters are 2-for-36 against him. With RISP it's .157. You can get on but it's tough to get in against Ray. The one Achilles heel I noticed was that opposing batters are hitting .342/1.049 against him the third time they face him. So the key is to find ways to get on base in the early innings and try to get through the order twice by the 5th inning or so.
Morgan is becoming Mr. Consistency. In his last five starts he's pitched exactly five innings each time, giving up 4, 4, 3, 3, and 3 runs. His problem has been home runs; he's given up eight in his last five starts. In his last start against Houston he held the Astros to three hits in five innings, but two of them were home runs.
One big problem for Morgan is he's better against lefties. Right-handed hitters have a line of .308/1.008 against him. And the Jays lineup is straight right-handed hitters across the board. Guerrero, Semien, Bichette, Hernandez, Espinal, Springer - all of their most productive hitters bat right-handed. Morgan is really going to be challenged today. If he can get through five and hold them to three runs it would be a huge success for the rookie.
But Morgan's biggest problem is he gets figured out. The first time batters face him in a game they hit .197/.538. The second time it's a whole 'nuther story; he gets torched at a rate of .404/1.443. They just need to get a look at his pitches one time and it's lights out. Unless Eli figures out how to get hitters out twice he's destined for a bullpen role, if that.
Tomorrow Plesac goes against LHP Hyun Jin Ryu, 10-5, 3.26. Ryu also has been very good lately with a 2.73 ERA in five July starts. He went five innings against the Tribe in May, allowing two runs. Plesac also had a 5-and-2 in his last start against the Cardinals. This will be his fifth start since returning from injury.
Wednesday it's Mejia agianst the third lefty, Steven Matz, 8-6, 4.58. Matz also pitched five innings against the Indians in May, allowing two runs.
Mejia has been awful, allowing 25 earned runs in 21.1 innings in July covering five starts. He's been hit hard and early. You'd think he'd be dead meat against these guys. But look at his splits; lefties are hitting .324/1.040 while righties are at .188/.567. Mejia has been very effective against right-handed hitters and the Jays are loaded with them. The only left-handed bat in their lineup is Cavan Biggio who's hitting .232 against RHP's. The Jays have the most right-handed dominant lineup in baseball.
This could be an interesting matchup with Mejia going against a guantlet of very good right-handed bats. Can the rookie hold his own?
With runners in scoring positon and two out Mejia has been abysmal (.389/1.283). JC needs to learn how to knuckle down and make good pitches to get that third out with RISP. Contrast Mejia with Robbie Ray; batters are hitting .056 with RISP and two out against Ray. If Mejia wants to have a big league career he needs to toughen up mentally and get that third out with RISP. That and coming up with a pitch that works against lefties.
On Thursday it's McKenzie against Ross Stripling, 4-6, 4.75. We finally get a RHP after three lefies. Stripling's ERA is not impressive, but if you take out his three starts against the Red Sox his ERA is 3.45. The Red Sox have owned this guy but we're not the Red Sox. Stripling went five against the Indians in May and held them to one run. Batters are hitting .309 off him with RISP so the key is to get on base.
McKenzie is somewhat similar to Stripling in that he has an ERA of 11.15 in four starts against the White Sox and 4.50 against everybody else. Right-handed hitters are batting .174 against McKenzie, but they have touched him for 10 home runs in 115 at-bats. He's been very effective against them, like Mejia, but he's prone to mistakes that get taken deep. This will be a good game for him to see if he can take on some really good right-handed hitters and not groove any pitches. In his last start he could not get his slider anywhere near the zone and the White Sox sat on his fastball and crushed it.
This could easily be a sweep for the Jays as I don't see any game where the matchup favors the Indians.
The Jays are an offensive juggernaut, ranking 2nd in the A.L. in scoring and wRC+, 3rd in on-base percentage, and 1st in home runs. They have George Springer back after he missed nearly the first three months of the season and he's hitting .266/.951. Of course it all starts with Vlad (.327/1.078) but they have a lot of really good bats with Marcus Semien (.275/.871), Bo Bichette (.295/.831), Teoscar Hernandez (.291/.829), and Santiago Espinal (.312/.790). Just a nasty gauntlet of hitters to go through. The Jays touched up Tribe pitchers for 20 runs in three games in May; they could easily get 30 in four games this week.
They rank 6th in the A.L. in team ERA and 11th in home runs allowed, so they give up a few long balls. They acquired Brad Hand and Joakim Soria at the trade deadline to strengthen the bullpen. The big trade was for starter Jose Berrios, but we won't see him.
Tonight Eli Morgan faces LHP Robbie Ray, 9-5, 3.04. Ray is the first of three left-handed starters the Indians will face in this series. Ray is on a roll with a 1.99 ERA in five July starts. He's especially tough with two out and RISP as batters are 2-for-36 against him. With RISP it's .157. You can get on but it's tough to get in against Ray. The one Achilles heel I noticed was that opposing batters are hitting .342/1.049 against him the third time they face him. So the key is to find ways to get on base in the early innings and try to get through the order twice by the 5th inning or so.
Morgan is becoming Mr. Consistency. In his last five starts he's pitched exactly five innings each time, giving up 4, 4, 3, 3, and 3 runs. His problem has been home runs; he's given up eight in his last five starts. In his last start against Houston he held the Astros to three hits in five innings, but two of them were home runs.
One big problem for Morgan is he's better against lefties. Right-handed hitters have a line of .308/1.008 against him. And the Jays lineup is straight right-handed hitters across the board. Guerrero, Semien, Bichette, Hernandez, Espinal, Springer - all of their most productive hitters bat right-handed. Morgan is really going to be challenged today. If he can get through five and hold them to three runs it would be a huge success for the rookie.
But Morgan's biggest problem is he gets figured out. The first time batters face him in a game they hit .197/.538. The second time it's a whole 'nuther story; he gets torched at a rate of .404/1.443. They just need to get a look at his pitches one time and it's lights out. Unless Eli figures out how to get hitters out twice he's destined for a bullpen role, if that.
Tomorrow Plesac goes against LHP Hyun Jin Ryu, 10-5, 3.26. Ryu also has been very good lately with a 2.73 ERA in five July starts. He went five innings against the Tribe in May, allowing two runs. Plesac also had a 5-and-2 in his last start against the Cardinals. This will be his fifth start since returning from injury.
Wednesday it's Mejia agianst the third lefty, Steven Matz, 8-6, 4.58. Matz also pitched five innings against the Indians in May, allowing two runs.
Mejia has been awful, allowing 25 earned runs in 21.1 innings in July covering five starts. He's been hit hard and early. You'd think he'd be dead meat against these guys. But look at his splits; lefties are hitting .324/1.040 while righties are at .188/.567. Mejia has been very effective against right-handed hitters and the Jays are loaded with them. The only left-handed bat in their lineup is Cavan Biggio who's hitting .232 against RHP's. The Jays have the most right-handed dominant lineup in baseball.
This could be an interesting matchup with Mejia going against a guantlet of very good right-handed bats. Can the rookie hold his own?
With runners in scoring positon and two out Mejia has been abysmal (.389/1.283). JC needs to learn how to knuckle down and make good pitches to get that third out with RISP. Contrast Mejia with Robbie Ray; batters are hitting .056 with RISP and two out against Ray. If Mejia wants to have a big league career he needs to toughen up mentally and get that third out with RISP. That and coming up with a pitch that works against lefties.
On Thursday it's McKenzie against Ross Stripling, 4-6, 4.75. We finally get a RHP after three lefies. Stripling's ERA is not impressive, but if you take out his three starts against the Red Sox his ERA is 3.45. The Red Sox have owned this guy but we're not the Red Sox. Stripling went five against the Indians in May and held them to one run. Batters are hitting .309 off him with RISP so the key is to get on base.
McKenzie is somewhat similar to Stripling in that he has an ERA of 11.15 in four starts against the White Sox and 4.50 against everybody else. Right-handed hitters are batting .174 against McKenzie, but they have touched him for 10 home runs in 115 at-bats. He's been very effective against them, like Mejia, but he's prone to mistakes that get taken deep. This will be a good game for him to see if he can take on some really good right-handed hitters and not groove any pitches. In his last start he could not get his slider anywhere near the zone and the White Sox sat on his fastball and crushed it.
This could easily be a sweep for the Jays as I don't see any game where the matchup favors the Indians.
Last edited:
