The day begins with a match-up of mature but not veteran pitchers as Chris Heston and the Giants face Anthony DeSclafani and the Reds. Heston is living up to his strength in the minors of stinginess with his walks, allowing just ten so far in 46 1/3 innings. DeSclafani allowed a very low BABIP so far, .238. While the Reds play good defense overall, DeScalafani’s line drive and ground ball rates are not remarkable. I suspect he’s in for a whacking one of these games. His FIP is 3.92 and his xFIP is 4.56.

The streaking Angels send Garrett Richards against the Orioles and Mike Wright, making his major league debut. After a shaky first outing back from injury, Richards settled down to allow a 1.69 ERA over his last four starts. He hasn’t completely recovered, as he’s walking batters at a high rate, but the opposition just can’t find a way to connect for hits against Richards. Wright posted good three-true outcome numbers in the minors, but those did not lead to a low ERA. We’ll see how he does against a good Angels team.

The Rays and Twins finish their series as Chris Archer takes on Kyle Gibson. Archer makes just his third road start of the season, and has yet to allow a run away from Tampa Bay. Gibson walked 15 and struck out 17 in 43 1/3 innings. With that kind of ratio, I doubt his 2.70 ERA will hold up very long. He does induce a high percentage of ground balls, however, so that should help.

Finally, ESPN presents a battle of central division leaders as the Tigers send Alfredo Simon against the Cardinals and Lance Lynn. Simon is doing a good job of keeping the ball in the park this season, with just three home runs allowed in 44 1/3 innings. Lynn is even better with just two long balls allowed in 41 1/3 innings.

Enjoy!