June 23, 2016

Game of the Day

There is no great pitching match-up this Thursday, so the game that seems most interesting is Chicago at Boston where James Shields gets another chance to show the White Sox he can pitch as the Red Sox send Rick Procello to the mound. Shields allowed a high batting average at Fenway throughout his career. He is 2-9 at Fenway with a 5.42 ERA. This was the site of the infamous game of 6/5/2008, when Shields hit two batters, the second Coco Crisp, which ignited an on-field brawl. My daughter and I were at the game, and when the fight broke out Melinda said, “This is the greatest game ever!”

Shields has completely disintegrated in his last four starts, walking 13 batters in 11 1/3 innings and allowing seven home runs. I don’t feel I’m exaggerating when I say this may be the last time you see him in quite a while.

Porcello may be having the best season of his career, as he somehow figured out a way to increase his strikeout rate. PITCHf/x indicates he his throwing his four-seam fastball less and his two-seam fastball more. So far, it’s working.

Enjoy!

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