Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
April 22, 2007
Games of the Day

Tom Glavine comes into today with a 3-1 record, his only loss coming in a game against his former teammate, John Smoltz. Both pitchers allowed two earned runs in that game, but the Mets defensive miscues led to three unearned runs. Despite Glavine's low ERA, two things bother me about the pitcher's stats. He's walking more than he's striking out, and righties are hitting him much better than lefties. When Glavine is right, he's the kind of pitcher who gets right-handed batters out. Smoltz is doing a better job of keeping the ball in the park this season compared to 2006. He's only allowed two home runs in 26 innings.

Runs could be plentiful in the Cleveland/Tampa Bay matchup. The Devil Rays score at a rate of 5.18 per game, third best in the majors. Add to that Jake Westbrook's 12.08 ERA and you have a slugfest in the making. Jake's already been taken deep five times in just 12 2/3 innings. He'll face James Shields, who also allowed five home runs. His are over 20 innings, however. James is also pitching very well against left-handed batters, allowing a .209 OBA against the group.

Houston and Milwaukee continue their battle for first in the NL Central with David Bush hosting Roy Oswalt. Bush appears to be pitching in a bit of bad luck. His strikeouts, walks and home runs are all great, but he's putting a lot of leadoff hitters on. Eight of seventeen leadoff hitters reached by a hit or walk. Roy Oswalt allowed just four extra-base hits so far this season, and none with men on base. He's making it tough for runners to advance a long distance.

Greg Maddux allowed home runs in each of his last five starts at Coors field, eight in all. His record there is way out of whack with the rest of his career, and it's the long balls that hurt him. The Jason Hirsh trade looks good for the Rockies so far. He's posting a 3.38 ERA and only allowed one home run in 18 2/3 innings so far.

And tonight, in glorious HD, Daisuke Matsuzaka takes the mound against the New York Yankees. The should be good news for Chase Wright, since all of Matsuzaka's opponents pitched well so far.

2007MatsuzakaOpposing Starter
Innings2022 2/3
Walks53
Strikeouts2416
Home Runs11
ERA2.700.79

Enjoy!


Posted by David Pinto at 11:10 AM | Matchups | TrackBack (0)
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