Aside from the obvious bullpen/pitching issues…
What would you like to see done to either benefit or better the Nats overall, whether it be a DFA, Trade, Call-up, firing, etc.;
For Example: (these are just examples, not personal opinion)
*1. CJ moving over to 2B, move Núñez to SS.
*2. DFA’ing Andres Chaparro
*3. Call Up Harry Ford, Option Drew Millas to AAA
What a fantastic game yesterday! Cavalli absolutely SHOVED, 13Ks in 7IP, which is a career high! The bats came alive, better late than never! Now let’s finish this series off with a series another road series W! Let’s get to it, by talking about this upcoming matchup against Payton Tolle.
Tolle is currently 4-5, and in 71.1IP, he’s posted a 2.78ERA, with a 1.02WHIP and 69Ks (Nice👌).
Last 3 Games (NYY, SEA, TOR):
1-2, 18IP, 11H, 6ER, 6BB, 15Ks
Tolle performs better at Home, recording a 2-2 record with a 2.27ERA in home games, but in Day games, he is 0-2 with a 3.45ERA.
According to Savant, he’s a primary 4Seam/Sinker guy; his top 3 pitches (usage of 89% of the time) have been his 4Seam, Sinker and Cutter (which could spell great things for the boys!
To Left: 40% 4Seam, 34% Sinker, 20% Cutter, with a hint of Curve (5%) and Change (1%)
To Right: 51% 4Seam, 20% Sinker, 15% Cutter, with a hint of Curve (8%) and Change (4%)
xERA - rERA: 2.92 - 2.78
xBA - rBA: .209 - .203
FIP: 3.19
Chase/Whiff: 34.3%/24%
Barrel/Hardhit: 6.3%/34%
GB%: 35.1%
Avg EV: 87.8MPH
Tolle has kind of surprising numbers, with a 4 seam that averages 96mph, which RHB are just batting .132, while against RHB, his Cutter and Sinker are hit the most efficiently: Cutter (.292) and Sinker (.281); Against LHB, LHB are only hitting .207 against his 4Seam, but his Sinker tends to get his the most, with RHB hitting .324 against his Sinker.
While he doesn’t use his Curve often, opponents are just batting .172 against it, with a Whiff% of 45.7% and a PutAway% of 31.8 which is the highest in his pitch arsenal. He’s also allowed a HR, on each of his pitches; so far in ‘26, Tolle is surpassing expectations, but something tells me he’s due for a fall from grace! And the Nats are just the team to do it!! Let’s get this Series Win!
LETS GO NATS!
Way to bounce back boys!!!
Now, Let’s talk about today’s matchup against Ranger Suarez:
Suarez is 3-3, with 82.2IP, he’s posted a 2.83ERA, 1.14WHIP, and punched out 84; in his last 3 starts (COL, SEA, TEX), he’s posted:
1-0, 17.2IP, 14H, 3ER, 6BB, 21Ks
Overall not bad for his last 3;
According to Savant, he’s primary fastball, which makes sense, since he throws a 4Seam, Cutter and Sinker as his primary pitch;
To Left: 40% Sinker, 27% 4Seam, 17% Curve, with a hint of Change (7%), Slider (7%) and Cutter (2%)
To Right: 27% Cutter, 20% 4Seam, 19% Sinker, 18% Change, with a Curve (16%) (Hardly throws the Slider (<1%)
Pitching Run Value: +14
Fastball Run Value: +13
Breaking Run Value: +3
Offspeed Run Value: -2
xERA - rERA: 3.23 - 2.83
xBA: .234
Whiff/Chase: 24%/32%
K/BB: 24.9% K/7.4% BB
Barrel/Hardhit: 5.3%/31%
Suarez excels at limiting hard contact, with a heavy usage of his sinker, which is interesting as a primary ground ball type pitch, since his GB% rate is only 39.4% which is in the 36th percentile (that’s pretty low for a sinker primary pitcher.
Left handed hitters have been his problem, especially his fastballs, as opponents are batting .302 (Sinker) and .385 (4Seam); he will always go toward his Curve or Slider as both pitches have a whiff% over 41%; however, in terms of put away, he will elect to his Curve, as he has a putaway% of 37% on his Curve.
Suarez hasn’t given up many homers, as he’s credited with only 4HRs this season; his AVG EV, on his pitches ranges from 84.2MPH-87.4MPH; but let’s see how he fairs against the Nats!
Let’s Go Nats!!!
If this series couldn’t get ANY worse….we are facing THEIR ACE, Christopher Sanchez. I was honestly debating on whether I should do this, but fuck it, you never know! Now let’s talk about the matchup against Christopher Sanchez.
Sanchez is currently 9-3 W-L, and in 105IP, he’s posted a 1.80ERA, 1.09WHIP, and 121Ks. His last three games (NYM, MIL, TOR):
18.2IP, 17H, 7ER, 3BB, 18K
According to Savant, he’s a 3 pitch mix guy, Sinker, Change, Slider; WITH A LOT OF RED.
To Left: 64% Sinker, 24% Slider, 12% Change
To Right: 46% Change, 38% Sinker, 16% Slider
xERA - rERA: 2.96 - 1.80
xBA: .224
Whiff%: 31.4% (88th Percentile)
Chase%: 38.2% (98th Percentile)
BB%/K%: 4.7% (99th)/28.5% (86th)
GB%: 57.1% (96th Percentile)
Sanchez is in the 99th percentile in Pitching Run Value, with +21; it’s not his Sinker or Slider doing this, it’s his CHANGE UP.
Fastball Run Value: +3
Breaking Run Value: +3
Offspeed Run Value: +15 (100th PERCENTILE)
His Sinker seems to be the pitch opposing hitter find success with the most, as hitters are batting .328; 45.3% Whiff on his Change, & 41.6% Whiff on his Slider;
Left Handed Hitters are batting .188 against his Sinker, .077 against his Slider, and .050 against his Change; safe to say his LOVES facing lefties, as lefties have had barely any success against him;
Right Handed Hitters are a different story; against his fastball, hitters are batting .417 against his Sinker, .275 against his Slider, and .152 against his Change
His fastball has taken a bit of a dip since last season, as hitters are more successful on it this year, compared to last year, where he had a Run Value of 19 on his Fastball (Sinker).
67% First Pitch Stike
After seeing the numbers, I’m kind of interested to see how our boys do! Let’s hope this team can muster a little more offense to get this pitching staff going! And EVEN THIS SERIES…..even though we should be up 3-0 in the series😒
LETS GO NATS!
DFA Everyone!!!!…….hold on a sec, I know emotions are high right now, our 2nd straight night losing a lead in the 9th, unable to close it with 2outs and 2 strikes;
Let’s address the Elephant in the Room, the Bullpen is absolutely dog shit, that’s the 23rd blown save of the season for the boys, the most in MLB;
okay, how do we solve it?
Even we a mediocre bullpen, we’d be one of the top teams in MLB, according to JustBaseballMedia; so then what do we do?
There are 25 Relief Pitchers with an under 2.00ERA, one of them being our former closer, Kyle Finnegan; 67 relief pitchers have a ERA under 3.00
Those who are on losing teams (35 wins, or less)
Kyle Finnegan - DET (1.95 ERA) (Not Cheap) (4 BS)
Brooks Railey - NYM (1.93 ERA) (CHEAP) (1 BS)
Jovani Morán - BOS (1.80 ERA) (0 BS)
Huascar Brazobán - NYM (1.17 ERA) (CHEAP) (2 BS)
Brayan Bello - BOS (0.71 ERA) (more of a starter)
Steven Okert - HOU (2.21 ERA) (0 BS)
Antonio Senzatela - COL (2.23 ERA) (3 BS)
Luke Weaver - NYM (2.25 ERA) (2 BS)
Austin Warren - NYM (2.30 ERA) (1 BS)
Daniel Lynch - KCR (2.53 ERA) (2 BS)
*I have listed their Blown Saves
I could go on; but I bring up these specific players as their respected teams are more than likely going to sell during the deadline; I also wouldn’t be surprised if “winning” teams make moves for these guys as well;
If you’re Paul Toboni, and you’re looking at this issue that is present, with how the Nats starting pitching and lineup is, Right Now, what are you doing?
What would you address first?
Would you address the bullpen coach?
The Bullpen themselves?
The pitching coach?
Would you bring up AAA arms, and option those in the bullpen to AAA?
Are you trading? If so, for who?
Or…..are you riding out the season, to see where you land, and adjust in the offseason?
LMK!
With the 81st game being play tonight, I think we need some reflection on what has been so far, and guys….I think we’ve all said this at some point, but…WHAT A SEASON OUR BOYS ARE HAVING!
1st in MLB in Runs Scored
1st in MLB in Runs Batted In
1st in MLB in BsR (Base Running, meaning base running decisions, when to steal, score, etc)
Tied-2nd in MLB in Stolen Bases
3rd in MLB in SLG%
4th in MLB in wRC+
4th in MLB in WAR
6th in MLB in HR
9th in FRV (Fielding run Value)
41-39, 1.5GB in the WC!
But with a lot of success, comes a lot of failure…
11th Worst in OAA (Outs Above AVG)
Worst in MLB in Errors (13 more than 2nd worst)
Worst in MLB in FP (Fielding Percentage)
6th Worst in MLB in Past balls
5th Worst ERA in MLB
9th Worst in SP ERA,
4th Worst in Bullpen ERA
11th Most Walks surrendered
4th Most HBP (pitching)
Last in BS (Blown Saves)
3rd Most HR surrendered
There’s obviously a lot of bad, but this year has had a lot of good things happening; This is Blake’s first year, and so far he’s done a good job, there are a few (maybe more than a few) head scratchers, but he’s still learning the ins and outs of the Majors, since he’s spent all of his time in the minors.
Records before the All Star Break Yr by Yr:
‘25 39-53, finished 5th in NL EAST
‘24 47-53, finished 4th in NL EAST
‘23 36-54, finished 5th in NL EAST
‘22 31-64, finished 5th in NL EAST
‘21 47-49, finished 5th in NL EAST
The last 5 years were miserable, and this is the first year we’ve actually felt competitive, I know everyone is mad about the pitching, but we have to appreciate what we have now, and be glad we are somewhat competitive, because I don’t want to be back in the Rizzo/Martinez era, yeah we won a WS in 19, but we haven’t sniffed a playoff spot since! I’m glad to see where our boys are, and hope that this continues on!
Let’s Go Nats!
EDIT: Carson Palmquist will be opening for Mikolas tonight
All I have to say about last night was….wow. That’s it. Today is another start for Mikolas, who, and I have to say it, had probably one of the more unluckiest starts in TB (Aranda’s Trop 3-run Homer); Now let’s talk about this start against Aaron Nola.
Nola is 3-4, with a 5.71ERA, and in just 75.2IP, he’s recorded 77Ks and a 1.48WHIP; his last 3 starts (NYM, MIL, CWS) have all been ND’s, and has only lasted a combined 14IP across those 3 games:
0-0 3 ND’s, 14IP, 19H, 10ER, 7BB, 13K
His worst start of the 3, comes from his game against CWS on 6/7: 4.1IP, 6H, 5ER, 4BB, 4K
According to Savant, quite a large pitch mix; but something QUITE telling, which I’ll share in a bit, but let’s talk about his approaches so far;
To Left: 33% Curve, 28% 4Seam, 18% Change, and 15% Sinker, with a hint to Cutter (6%); NO SLIDER TO LEFT
To Right: 34% Curve, 29% Sinker, 19% 4Seam, 11% Cutter, with a hint of Change (5%) and Slider (2%)
Nola pitching run value tells an interesting story, he has great offspeed and Breaking pitches, but his fastballs are just…..BAD, and I mean BAD!
Fastball Run Value: -23 (1st Percentile, VERY BAD)
Breaking Run Value: +6 (92nd Percentile)
Offspeed Run Value: +3 (88th Percentile)
Pitching Run Value: -14
xERA - rERA: 4.25 - 5.71
xBA: .254
Whiff%/Chase%: 24.8%/32%
Barrel/Hardhit: 9.1%/39.4%
GB%: 42%
As I stated earlier, his fastball is BAD, opponents are hitting .406 (4Seam), .433 (Cutter) and .328 (Sinker); Hasn’t really thrown the slider, only 10 reported times throwing the slider, however he only added it this year. Opponents hitting against Nola’s 4 Seam Fastball have a .828 SLG. Which means it gets hit, and hit HARD.
Yesterday our bullpen has proved ONCE AGAIN, that they are unreliable when it comes to finishing a game, and must rely on our offense to completely blow it out of the water; but even with a very Sizable lead (9-1 lead against SF by the 8th), we can still lose.
Let’s just hope Miles can put a good performance out there, keep inducing small soft contact, and PRAY our bullpen can FINALLY get it done.
Let’s Go Nats!!
Welp, looks like I was completely wrong about yesterday not happening, Good Win boys!!
Now let’s talk about today’s matchup against Jesus Luzardo.
Btw, a little bit of back story, the Nats drafted Luzardo in 2016, packaged him in the Treinen deal to get Ryan Madson & Sean Doolittle…..a little food for thought.
Luzardo, who in 15G played and 85.2IP, is 6-4 W-L, with a 4.20ERA, 97Ks and a 1.31WHIP. His last three starts (MIA, CWS, TOR), he’s recorded: 2-0 W-L, 18.2IP, 16H, 8ER, 8BB, 19K; his worst, of the 3, coming against CWS: 6IP, 7H, 5ER, 2BB, and 2K’s (which was his worst, since May 8, against COL).
According to Savant; Pretty even pitch mix, Heavy Sweeper/Sinker to Left, and Sweeper/Change/Fastball to right; more specifically:
To Left: Sweeper 46%, Sinker 36%, 4Seam 14%, with a hint of Change (4%)
To Right: Sweeper 33%, 4Seam 30%, Change 27%, and a hint of Sinker (10%)
Run Values:
Fastballs: -2 (4Seam/Sinker)
Breaking: +5 (Sweeper, 91st Percentile)
Offspeed: +2 (Change, 81st Percentile)
xERA - rERA: 3.34 - 4.20
xBA: .226
Chase/Whiff: 33.2%/30.9%
Barrel/HardHit: 6.4%/28.9% (HH%: 95th Percentile)
GB%: 49.4%
Luzardo tends to pitch better on the road, so far:
4-0, 1.55ERA, 13/48 BB/K, and a 1.23WHIP; pretty much deals his best work during the 1st-3rd innings, and he falls off, nearing a 6-7ERA after the 4th; only surrender 9HR’s this year, while having a 3.32FIP, which is .42 points higher than last year; and with a park like Washington, don’t be surprised if we see a few go out;
4Seam & Sinker tends to be hit the hardest (4seam (.326) and Sinker (.339), while his Sweeper does most of the damage, OBA: .158, Whiff: 47.2%, and 27.4% PutAway%
Keys to Success against Luzardo:
Layoff the Sweeper as much as possible
Pound the Fastballs
Stay within themselves & Be Disciplined!
Let’s Go Nats!!
Hey guys! Apologies for the last two misses, but we are back at it again; however, looking at today’s weather, it’s not looking good for our boys in DC.
The weather report is Severe Thunderstorms, and rain that will go on pretty much until 11pmEST. On top of that, it will rain tomorrow, however it’s supposed to slow up around game time tomorrow.
So my Diagnosis is this….Game Will Be Cancelled due to rain, and there will be a doubleheader either tomorrow or Wednesday.
Look forward to tomorrow gents!
LETS GO NATS
Let’s Go Nats!
Good afternoon everyone! 4 Straight series victories for our boys in DC, now we’ve got 13 straight games with ZERO BREAK, so let’s do this! Now let’s talk about Griffin Jax of the Tampa Bay Rays!
Griffin Jax is 1-5 W-L, posting a 3.68 ERA and a 1.36WHIP, in just 44IP, with 41K’s. His last 3 games (DET, MIA, LAA): 14IP, 15H, 6ER (all 6 coming from his start against Detroit) 3BB, and 14Ks; He’s coming off two pretty good starts against MIA & LAA, surprisingly took the L against the Angels, and took a ND in Miami.
According to Savant, primarily Sweeper, Change, Sinker, and 4 Seam, with low usage of Curve & Cutter;
To Left: Change 29%, 4seam 23%, Curve/Sweeper 13%, Cutter 12% with a hint of sinker at 10%
To Right: Sweeper 40%, Sinker 33%, 4Seam 14%, with hints of Change (9%), Curve (2%) and Cutter (1%)
Run Value of Fastballs: -3
Run Value of Breaking Balls: 2
Run Value of Offspeed: 0
Middle of the road K rate of: 22.3%; while having a decently high walk rate of: 9.3%
His whiff and chase rates are where he comes alive: Chase/Whiff: 32.9%/30.8%
xERA - rERA: 4.86 - 3.68
xBA - rBA: .268 - .261
Barrel/HardHit: 9.6%/40%
GB%: 49.6%
FIP: 4.52
It seems like when it comes to Griffin Jax, he’s a primary pitch to contact type pitcher, heavily utilizing the Sinker & Sweeper; however his 4 Seam and Sinker tend to get hit the most; but today, since more than likely we are going to pair a LOT of lefties against Jax, we could be seeing a lot of the 4 Seam & Change, with Sweeper being used more against Wood & Abrams.
We tend to do better away from DC, so let’s see what the boys can do against the Rays, who are 24-9 at home; they are also 13-13 against teams over .500, which could spells good things for us!
LETS GO NATS!
Apologies for this being late, forgot they played early. But here is Avila’s Savant page to get an idea about him
3rd Straight Win, Nats are staying 🔥🔥🔥 today! Now let’s talk about the matchup Vs Michael Wacha of the Kansas City Royals.
Wacha is 4-5 this year, with a 3.58ERA, in 88IP, he’s posting a 1.16WHIP with 69 punchies 🥊🥊🥊. His last 3 starts have not been friendly (TEX x2 & MIN), in 17.2IP, these are his stats over those 3 games:
0-3 W-L, 17.2IP, 25H, 14ER, 5BB, 9K;
According to his Savant page, is a primary Fastball/Change to Left and Sinker/Slider to Right; but more specifically:
To Right: Sinker 25%, Slider 21%, 4Seam 20% with a mix of Change (11%), Cutter (14%), and Curve (9%)
To Left: 4Seam 34%, Change 32%, Cutter 16%, with a mix of Curve (10%), Sinker (6%), and Barely Slider (2%)
+4 Run Value on Fastballs
-2 Run Value on Breaking Balls
+4 Run Value on Offspeed
Whiff%/Chase%: 22.7%/29.4%
K%/BB%: 19.4%/7.6%
AVG EV: 89MPH
xERA - rERA (R = Real): 4.25 - 3.58
Barrel%/Hardhit%: 6.2%/38.5%
The Cutter, Slider and Curve seems to be hit the most successfully: Cutter (.340), Slider/Curve (.333)
He’s coming off of 3 straight rocky starts, why not make it 4? Below average fastball velo at 92.9, but his +4 run value seems to believe there’s more than meets the stats. Not a lot of GB% (Ground Ball %), with 38.5%, so we may see some fly balls more often today! With a pretty sunny day in DC, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the ball fly!
Griffin took a ND in his last start, due to the Nats bullpen blowing it in the 8th-9th innings; but aside from that; Griffin is 1-0 in his last 3 starts, in 16IP, he’s posted: 16IP, 13H, 5ER, 2BB, and 14K’s!
Foster, keep pitching your game! And let’s finish off these Royals!
LETS GO NATS!
Great win to finish another series W, let’s keep it going against the Royals, who are 29-43, 5th in the AL Central. Now, let’s talk about the matchup against Mitch Spence
Spence is interesting as he has 1 game recorded this year, which was against NYY: 4IP, 4H, 6ER, 5BB, and 3K’s; giving him a 13.50ERA & a 2.25WHIP; He’s a former Athletic (OAK/SAC A’s), last year he went 3-6, posting a 5.10ERA, and in 84.2IP, he’s recorded 66Ks, and a 1.44WHIP.
On his Savant, he hasn’t made enough appearances to qualify in terms of percentiles; However, from his “Only” game he’s played this is how it went:
To Right: 29% Cutter, 37% Sinker, 26% Slider, with a Curve (9%) (he also throws a changeup, but didn’t throw it once to RHB)
To Left: 41% Cutter, 18% Change, 16% Curve, with a mix of Sinker (10%) and Slider (14%)
I’m not going to include any Run Values, since he doesn’t have the numbers/games to back it up.
It seems like his Cutter is his most effective pitch, as in the game against NYY, they hit .143; but again, take it with a pinch of salt due to the small sample sizes this year; but in 2025, the Cutter was hit just as much as the sinker (Cutter - .318, Sinker - .429)
Sorry this is much shorter, it’s just due to Spence having 1 game played so far! Anyway, let’s put up another series W, en route to this 13 Game stretch!
LETS GO NATS!!!
Good Morning/Afternoon everyone! It’s another day for Nationals Baseball! Coming off a 4-2 West Coast Road Series, and being 4-5 W-L so far for the month of June, we are in for an interesting month! A 6 game Home series before 13 days of NON STOP BASEBALL!
With that being said, let’s get to talking about the matchup for the boys!
Bryce Miller is 2-0, with an impressive 1.33ERA, with a .78WHIP and 29Ks in just 27IP (keep in mind, he made his first start May 13th, so small sample size). 2-0 in his last 3 starts (DET, AZ, A’s), and in 16IP, these are the stats: 16IP, 7H, 2ER, 3BB, 19K.
According to his Savant page, Miller has a Unique 7-pitch mix, a mix dominated by his 4-seam (throwing at a HIGH 47% usage rate)
To Right: 4 Seam 49%, Slider 13%, Split 12%, Cutter/Sweeper 10%, with a hint of Curve (4%) and Sinker (2%)
To Left: 4 Seam 46%, Split 25%, Slider 18%, with a hint of Curve (6%), Cutter (3%) and Sweeper (1%) (does not throw the sinker at all to lefties)
Run Value on Fastballs: 4 (77th percentile)
Run Value on Breaking Pitches: 1
Run Value on Offspeed: 3 (87th percentile)
xERA - rERA: 1.83 - 1.33 (99TH PERCENTILE)
Hard hit/Barrel%: 24.6%/4.6%
BB%/K%: 5.1%/29.3%
xBA: .173
Whiff/Chase: 29.3%/35.8%
EV: 85.6MPH AVG
What I’m getting from Miller is that he throws a lot of strikes, majority Fastballs, and excels at limiting hard contact while getting a lot of soft contact. However, this will be Millers first REAL challenge.
This will not be a walk in the park for the boys, but we’ve been here before, the Nats are HOT at the plate, and they are just getting started!
LETS GO NATS!!
Keys to Success for the Boys!
Get to his Fastball Early!
Stay Disciplined and Stay Stingy at the plate!
Option Mitchell Parker to AAA
Parker last 7 games: 9IP, 17H, 9ER, 2/9 BB/K, 2.11WHIP
Recall PJ Poulin to MLB
Call up Luis Perales & Chandler Champlain
Champlain: 12G, 9GS, 59.2IP, 3.47ERA,
12/40 BB/K, 1.01WHIP
Perales: 11G, 10GS, 41.2IP, 3.02ERA,
22/31 BB/K, 1.15WHIP (limits the contact, but walks are an issue)
Consider bringing up Trevor Gott & Jackson Kent for bullpen role
(RHP) Gott: 26.1IP, 4.10ERA, 13/23 BB/K, 1.25WHIP
(LHP) Kent: 19.2IP, 4.12ERA, 5/23 BB/K, 1.07WHIP
Today’s game was absolutely BRUTAL, there’s no question about it. But today’s game tells the story of the Nats so far this season!
We have the BEST run scoring offense in the WHOLE LEAGUE and that’s a FACT! However, we ALSO have the 2ND WORST run allowing pitching staff in the whole league (1st is COL, which tbh, who is surprised there). Some of those runs can be attributed from errors (as we have committed the most errors as well). But we have something to cheer about! Something we haven’t had since we won the WS in ‘19!
Yes, our bullpen absolutely stinks, but hey, do you want to go back to last year??? 2024? 2023? 2022? 2021? Guys, we were DEPRESSED for the last 5 years, from the Mad Max/Trea trade in ‘21, the Soto/Bell trade in ‘22, to Rizzo/Martinez refusing to fix anything, just going with the flow and going with what was familiar.
There’s a bright side to everything, and we get to look at it everyday, now will we make the playoffs? Maybe? I have no clue what’s in store for the next few months, we’ve got 3.5 months left of a full baseball schedule, and right now, our offense is HOT! Just take a step back, and enjoy what we have now, because it can very well change! For the better or worst.
…and at least we aren’t the Spurs rn.
What’s going on guys! Let’s talk about today’s matchup against Robbie Ray of the SF Giants.
Robbie Ray is 4-6 W-L, in roughly 13 games and 67.2IP, he’s posting a 4.12ERA, 63Ks with a 1.40WHIP. In his last 3 starts (CHC, COL, CWS), in 13IP, he’s allowed 9H, 5ER, “14BB”, while K-ing 13. Location/Control has been a problem for Ray as of late with 14BB in his last 13IP of work. He also faced WAS back in April, where he posted a line of: 6IP, 7H, 3ER, 1BB, 7Ks, 1HR, he ended up taking the loss.
According to Baseball Savant, a two pitch combo type pitcher, Slider/Fastball throwing the Slider 28%, and 4 Seam 43%.
To right: 4 Seam 45%, Slider 22%, Change (21%) with a mix of Sinker (4%) and Curve (8%)
To left: Slider 53% 4 Seam 38%, with a mix of Curve (8%), and Change/Slider (<1% for both)
Breaking pitches have been his weakest link, with a run value of -3 (16th percentile)
His Fastballs also have not been the greatest, with a run value of -1
Ray does tend to rely on his offspeed more, and he’s displayed more success, and that translates well with a +3 Run value (90th percentile)
xERA - Current ERA: 5.08 - 4.12
xBA: .231
Chase/Whiff rate: 29.8%/25.8%
Barrel/HardHit rate: 11.6%/36.6%
GB%: 33% (10th percentile)
Foster Griffin is 2-0 in his last 3 starts (AZ, SD, and ATL), against 3 really tough teams, 16IP, 10H, 4ER, 3BB, and 15Ks!!!
Keys to success for Griffin:
Keep doing what you’re doing!
Limit the damage, and let your defense work!
Don’t change your approach!
What’s going on guys! Let’s talk about today’s matchup against Adrian Houser of the SF Giants.
Houser is 2-5 W-L, with a 5.49 ERA, in 60.2IPs and posting a 1.58WHIP with 40K’s. We faced Houser back in Apr., where he took a ND, resulting in 5.2IP, 7H, 5R, 4ER, 2BB, 1K, 1HBP, 1 HR (Wood). His stats from his last 3 starts (MIL, COL, CWS): 14.7IP, 20H, 9ER, 5BB, 14K.
According to Baseball Savant, very big Sinker-Baller, throwing that pitch a staggering 46% of the time.
To right: Sinker 55%, Slider 21%, 4 Seam 13%, with a mix of Change (7%) and Curve (5%)
To left: Sinker 42%, Change 24%, 4 Seam 15%, with a mix of Curve (12%) and Slider (7%)
Houser has taken a huge step back, but the season is still early, .30 points higher on WHIP (1.58) than last years (1.28), ERA has taken a huge leap, 2 whole points higher (3.31 to 5.49).
Breaking pitches have been his weakest link, with a run value of -8 (1st percentile)
His Fastballs also have not been the greatest, with a run value of -4
His off speed pitches have been his grace, but not saying much with a -2 Run value
xERA - Current ERA: 5.42 - 5.49
xBA: .281
Chase/Whiff rate: 25.1%/18.3%
Barrel/HardHit rate: 9%/44.1%
GB%: 45%
Curve & Slider seem to be the balls that are hit the most efficiently out of his entire arsenal: .429 AVG on Curve, .343 AVG on Slider; Sinker and Change, a similar story (.293 AVG on Change, .287 AVG on Sinker); what’s interesting is batters are batting .220 against his 4 seam.
Let’s see if the bats come alive like they did against Houser the first time in April. And let’s hope Alvarez and the bullpen can shut them down tonight!
Keys to Success for Alvarez:
GET THE CURVE WORKING EARLY
Eliminate Lee & Schmidt and Neutrilize Chapman & Devers
Don’t Fall Behind! Limit the Walks