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After splitting with the White Sox and Red Sox the Guardians conclude their 11-game road trip with a weekend series in Tampa against the 53-46 Rays, who are very good at home with a 31-18 record. The Rays won 6 of 7 against the Guardians last year. Also, the Rays are starting two lefties. This is going to be a very tough series and a sweep by the Rays is a distinct possibility.
The good news is that the Rays are not much of an offensive team, ranking 22nd in runs per game, 23rd in home runs per game, and 22nd in on-base percentage and slugging. In addition, they are really hurting in terms of injuries at the moment with 17 players on IR. The Rays are 2-5 so far in the second half, playing against KC and Baltimore. They have scored only 22 runs in those seven games.
The Rays are missing their starting centerfielder, Kevin Kiermeyer. They are missing their top two catchers, Mike Zunino and former Indian Francisco Mejia, who have combined for nearly 300 at-bats. Their catcher this weekend will apparently be Rene Pinto, hitting .190.
Their starting shortstop, Wander Franco, is also out. Franco is hitting .260/.704. His replacement, Taylor Walls, is hitting .169 in 261 at-bats.
Former Indian Harold Ramirez is killing it, hitting .329/.825 in 240 at-bats. He’s also on IR.
RF Manuel Margot, hitting .302/.788 in 51 games, is out.
The Rays are missing a lot of bats but they still have Yandy Diaz (.294/.807), Ji-Man Choi (.266/.799), and Randy Arozarena (12 HR, 47 RBI). But they do have some holes in their batting order. Last night they were shut out by the Orioles on 4 hits. Their 3-7 hitters last night had batting averages of .219, .205, .206, .204, and .144. Six of their nine hitters came in with BA’s of .206 or below.
Yandy is on a roll, hitting .358/.979 in July. But he's much better against lefties (.934 OPS than righties (.760). He'll probably see either McCarty or Pilkington Sunday so that should be a fun day for him.
What the Rays have is pitching. They rank 4th in baseball in team ERA and WHIP. They also have lefties, which the Guardians simply cannot hit. The G’s are hitting .220/.613 against lefties and .264/.735 against righties. The Rays will start two lefties in this series, starting with Jeffrey Springs tonight.
Springs, 3-2, 2.50, is 29 and has started 12 of his 20 appearances. His ERA at home is 1.76. Obviously Springs will present a huge problem for the Guardians. Shane Bieber goes for the G-Men. This could be a very, very low-scoring series.
The biggest offenders for the Guardians in terms of hitting left-handed pitching are Reyes (.172), Miller (.195), Hedges (.140), Maile (.143), Naylor (.213), and Hosey (.241). I shouldn't include Naylor since he hits left-handed; the others have no excuse. These guys need to figure out how to hit lefties, especially Reyes and Miller, who usually starts at first base for Naylor against lefties. Unfortunately, Owen can’t hit lefties and he can’t play first base.
Bieber is coming off his worst start of the season, a 6-inning, 6-run hiccup against the White Sox. The Rays should be just the ticket to get him back in the groove. Ji-Man Choi is 4-for-10 against Bieber with two doubles, so he needs to be careful with that guy, especially with men on base. This is the kind of series where one 3-run homer could cost you the game, just like last night.
Corey Kluber goes for the Rays on Saturday afternoon on ESPN against Plesac. Kluber is having a nice season at 6-6, 3.91. LHP Shane McClanahan, 10-3, 1.76, will dominate the G’s on Sunday against whoever we throw in there (no announcement yet).
The Rays have four relief pitchers on IR, including Wister (2.36 ERA), Beeks (2.48), Kittredge (3.15) and former Tribe farmhand J.P. Feyereisen (0.00 ERA in 24.1 innings). So their bullpen is somewhat depleted, in addition to their batting order. If our starters can shut them out through 6 or 7 innings and we can get to their bullpen with the game tied there's a chance to win late, which the G's have been pretty good at this year.
The good news is that the Rays are not much of an offensive team, ranking 22nd in runs per game, 23rd in home runs per game, and 22nd in on-base percentage and slugging. In addition, they are really hurting in terms of injuries at the moment with 17 players on IR. The Rays are 2-5 so far in the second half, playing against KC and Baltimore. They have scored only 22 runs in those seven games.
The Rays are missing their starting centerfielder, Kevin Kiermeyer. They are missing their top two catchers, Mike Zunino and former Indian Francisco Mejia, who have combined for nearly 300 at-bats. Their catcher this weekend will apparently be Rene Pinto, hitting .190.
Their starting shortstop, Wander Franco, is also out. Franco is hitting .260/.704. His replacement, Taylor Walls, is hitting .169 in 261 at-bats.
Former Indian Harold Ramirez is killing it, hitting .329/.825 in 240 at-bats. He’s also on IR.
RF Manuel Margot, hitting .302/.788 in 51 games, is out.
The Rays are missing a lot of bats but they still have Yandy Diaz (.294/.807), Ji-Man Choi (.266/.799), and Randy Arozarena (12 HR, 47 RBI). But they do have some holes in their batting order. Last night they were shut out by the Orioles on 4 hits. Their 3-7 hitters last night had batting averages of .219, .205, .206, .204, and .144. Six of their nine hitters came in with BA’s of .206 or below.
Yandy is on a roll, hitting .358/.979 in July. But he's much better against lefties (.934 OPS than righties (.760). He'll probably see either McCarty or Pilkington Sunday so that should be a fun day for him.
What the Rays have is pitching. They rank 4th in baseball in team ERA and WHIP. They also have lefties, which the Guardians simply cannot hit. The G’s are hitting .220/.613 against lefties and .264/.735 against righties. The Rays will start two lefties in this series, starting with Jeffrey Springs tonight.
Springs, 3-2, 2.50, is 29 and has started 12 of his 20 appearances. His ERA at home is 1.76. Obviously Springs will present a huge problem for the Guardians. Shane Bieber goes for the G-Men. This could be a very, very low-scoring series.
The biggest offenders for the Guardians in terms of hitting left-handed pitching are Reyes (.172), Miller (.195), Hedges (.140), Maile (.143), Naylor (.213), and Hosey (.241). I shouldn't include Naylor since he hits left-handed; the others have no excuse. These guys need to figure out how to hit lefties, especially Reyes and Miller, who usually starts at first base for Naylor against lefties. Unfortunately, Owen can’t hit lefties and he can’t play first base.
Bieber is coming off his worst start of the season, a 6-inning, 6-run hiccup against the White Sox. The Rays should be just the ticket to get him back in the groove. Ji-Man Choi is 4-for-10 against Bieber with two doubles, so he needs to be careful with that guy, especially with men on base. This is the kind of series where one 3-run homer could cost you the game, just like last night.
Corey Kluber goes for the Rays on Saturday afternoon on ESPN against Plesac. Kluber is having a nice season at 6-6, 3.91. LHP Shane McClanahan, 10-3, 1.76, will dominate the G’s on Sunday against whoever we throw in there (no announcement yet).
The Rays have four relief pitchers on IR, including Wister (2.36 ERA), Beeks (2.48), Kittredge (3.15) and former Tribe farmhand J.P. Feyereisen (0.00 ERA in 24.1 innings). So their bullpen is somewhat depleted, in addition to their batting order. If our starters can shut them out through 6 or 7 innings and we can get to their bullpen with the game tied there's a chance to win late, which the G's have been pretty good at this year.
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