- Joined
- Oct 3, 2019
- Messages
- 9,825
- Reaction score
- 28,114
- Points
- 135
With the A.L. Central title all but clinched the white hot Guardians head south for a weekend series against the 65-84 Rangers, who are playing out the string. The Rangers are 7-17 in their last 24 games and 31-42 at home. After going 10-2 against the Twins and White Sox the last two weeks the Guardians could have an emotional letdown this weekend.
The Guardians won 2 of 3 against the Rangers in Cleveland in June. Their only win was a 6-3 game where Kirk McCarty started and allowed 4 runs in 4 innings. The Rangers hit three home runs off McCarty and one off Anthony Gose. In the games started by Bieber and Quantrill the Rangers scored a total of three runs.
The Texans rank 11th in runs per game and 22nd in ERA. Offensively they are 24th in on-base percentage and 7th in home runs per game so they're the opposite of the Guardians; they depend heavily on home runs for their scoring. They have four players who have between 23-32 home runs.
They also like to run, ranking first in the majors in both stolen bases and stolen base attempts per game. The key to beating the Rangers seems to be preventing home runs.
Marcus Semien, 2B, is having a tremendous season with a WAR of 5.6. He's hitting .351 in September and was 8-for-12 against the Guardians in June, but most of the damage was done against McCarty. However, Semien has an OPS of only .637 at home against .832 away, a difference of nearly 200 points. Very odd.
1B Nate Lowe is hitting .307/.863 on the season with 25 home runs. He's hitting .338/.930 in September and was 5-for-12 against the Guardians in June. Lowe hits left-handed and has a .351/.965 line in 174 at-bats against LEFTIES this year. He won't face any lefty starters this weekend. He also hits better on the road than at home (.925 v. .797).
SS Corey Seager has 32 HR's and 82 RBI's. RF Adolis Garcia has 25 HR's and 95 RBI's.
The Rangers have some big bats in the middle of their batting order but the rest of their lineup doesn't look that good. If you can get through the big boys you're in good shape. Their Big Four have 105 of their 183 home runs.
Cody Morris goes for the Guardians tonight. After a shaky first start against Seattle Morris has allowed 2 earned runs over 13.2 innings in his last three starts. He gave up just one run to the Twins over six innings in his last start.
Jon Gray, a 30-year-old right-hander who spent most of his career with the Rockies, goes for the Rangers. Gray is 7-7, 3.80. He was out from Aug. 1 to Sep. 12 and this will be his third start since returning. In his first two he threw 45 and 67 pitches, so I expect they'll cap him at about 80 pitches tonight. Lefties are hitting .258/.736 against him. In June the Guardians nicked him for 5 runs in 5 innings on 6 hits and 4 walks.
At this point wins and losses are not as important as they were the last few weeks since the Guardians have deep-fixed the Twins and White Sox. But it would be nice to see them keep the winning going. But it's clear that Semien and Lowe haven't stopped playing even though the team has kind of gone into the tank the last month. I would like to see Morris continue to build on his success the last couple of starts.
Quantrill and Civale will start Saturday and Sunday against pitchers with ERA's of 4.88 and 5.40. Tonight's game will be the last of the season that starts at 8:10 p.m. No more midnight baseball unless we end up playing Seattle or Houston in the playoffs.
The Guardians won 2 of 3 against the Rangers in Cleveland in June. Their only win was a 6-3 game where Kirk McCarty started and allowed 4 runs in 4 innings. The Rangers hit three home runs off McCarty and one off Anthony Gose. In the games started by Bieber and Quantrill the Rangers scored a total of three runs.
The Texans rank 11th in runs per game and 22nd in ERA. Offensively they are 24th in on-base percentage and 7th in home runs per game so they're the opposite of the Guardians; they depend heavily on home runs for their scoring. They have four players who have between 23-32 home runs.
They also like to run, ranking first in the majors in both stolen bases and stolen base attempts per game. The key to beating the Rangers seems to be preventing home runs.
Marcus Semien, 2B, is having a tremendous season with a WAR of 5.6. He's hitting .351 in September and was 8-for-12 against the Guardians in June, but most of the damage was done against McCarty. However, Semien has an OPS of only .637 at home against .832 away, a difference of nearly 200 points. Very odd.
1B Nate Lowe is hitting .307/.863 on the season with 25 home runs. He's hitting .338/.930 in September and was 5-for-12 against the Guardians in June. Lowe hits left-handed and has a .351/.965 line in 174 at-bats against LEFTIES this year. He won't face any lefty starters this weekend. He also hits better on the road than at home (.925 v. .797).
SS Corey Seager has 32 HR's and 82 RBI's. RF Adolis Garcia has 25 HR's and 95 RBI's.
The Rangers have some big bats in the middle of their batting order but the rest of their lineup doesn't look that good. If you can get through the big boys you're in good shape. Their Big Four have 105 of their 183 home runs.
Cody Morris goes for the Guardians tonight. After a shaky first start against Seattle Morris has allowed 2 earned runs over 13.2 innings in his last three starts. He gave up just one run to the Twins over six innings in his last start.
Jon Gray, a 30-year-old right-hander who spent most of his career with the Rockies, goes for the Rangers. Gray is 7-7, 3.80. He was out from Aug. 1 to Sep. 12 and this will be his third start since returning. In his first two he threw 45 and 67 pitches, so I expect they'll cap him at about 80 pitches tonight. Lefties are hitting .258/.736 against him. In June the Guardians nicked him for 5 runs in 5 innings on 6 hits and 4 walks.
At this point wins and losses are not as important as they were the last few weeks since the Guardians have deep-fixed the Twins and White Sox. But it would be nice to see them keep the winning going. But it's clear that Semien and Lowe haven't stopped playing even though the team has kind of gone into the tank the last month. I would like to see Morris continue to build on his success the last couple of starts.
Quantrill and Civale will start Saturday and Sunday against pitchers with ERA's of 4.88 and 5.40. Tonight's game will be the last of the season that starts at 8:10 p.m. No more midnight baseball unless we end up playing Seattle or Houston in the playoffs.
