Tag Archives: Adalberto Mejia

August 7, 2018

Games of the Day

The Nationals trail the Braves by 4 1/2 games for the second wild card as they play a four-game series in Washington, with a double header Tuesday. Game two features Sean Newcomb against Max Scherzer. (It’s a max pitching day as Max Fried starts for the Braves in game one.) Newcomb owns a 5.56 ERA against Washington this season with one poor start and one quality start. Scherzer struck out 24 Braves and walked three in 20 innings this season, helping him to a 1.80 ERA against Atlanta.

The Twins continue their series with the Indians as Adalberto Mejia faces Carlos Carrasco. Mejia’s superpower is limiting batters to singles. Only one of the 16 hits against him this season went for extra bases. Carrasco limits walks with just 26 allowed in 123 innings.

Finally, the Dodgers send Rich Hill against the Athletics and Sean Manaea. Hill pitched well on the road this season, owning a 3.09 ERA. He struck out 41 in 35 road innings. Manaea pitches to contact, with just 26 walks and 98 K in 141 1/3 innings. He allowed just 117 hits, however, as his defense helped him to a .234 BABIP allowed.

Enjoy!

August 1, 2018

Games of the Day

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The Indians and Twins finish their series with Carlos Carrasco facing Adalberto Mejia. Carrasco has struck out about four times the number of batter he walked in his career, and this season it’s very close to five. Mejia gets hit, but he doesn’t allow power, with a .306 BA against and a .367 slugging percentage against.

Dallas Keuchel faces Wade LeBlanc as Houston plays Seattle. After a rough June, Keuchel turned it around in July, posting a 1.65 ERA and allowing just one home run in 32 2/3 innings. LeBlanc is 6-0 at home with a 2.67 ERA, 0-1 on the road with a 4.57 ERA. He allows more power at home, but limits base runners better.

Chase Anderson takes the hill against Rich Hill as the Brewers battle the Dodgers. Anderson has his outfielders giving chase, as 43.4% of balls in play against him are fly balls. That’s tenth highest in the majors. Hill allowed just one run in two starts since the break, striking out 17 and walking five in 13 innings.

Enjoy!

September 27, 2017

Games of the Day

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Adam Conley faces Jon Gray as the Marlins finish their series in Colorado. Conley is finishing poorly, with a 9.56 ERA in September, having allowed 24 hits, six for homers, in 16 innings. Gray pitched impressively at home this season, posting a 2.93 ERA.

The Cubs can once again clinch the NL Central title with a win or Milwaukee loss. John Lackey takes on Michael Wacha. Lackey made 29 starts so far this season, the same as he made all of last year. He’s pitched 25 fewer innings in those starts, due to a reduced strikeout rate leading to more hits and home runs. Wacha pitches a must-win game for the Cardinals with a 3.12 ERA at home. He is 0-2 with a 7.88 ERA against the Cubs in three starts this season.

The Twins can claim the second wild card with a win against the Indians or an Angels defeat. Adalberto Mejia takes the hill against Danny Salazar in Cleveland. Both own identical 4.48 ERAs. Mejia is the opposite of an innings eater, have pitched just 94 1/3 innings in 20 starts. That’s mostly due to high walk and home run rates. Salazar is similar, although part of his low inning total comes from a few relief appearances. His very high K rate has not balanced his high walk and home run rates.

Enjoy!

July 3, 2017

Games of the Day

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The Mets take another shot at chipping away at the Nationals lead as they send Steven Matz against Stephen Strasburg. Matz gave the Mets rotation a needed boost since joining the team June 10th. In four starts he posted a 2.67 ERA, despite allowing five home runs in 27 innings. Seven of the eight runs against him have been driven in by homers. With a .271 OBP allowed, teams don’t get many other chances. Strasburg owns an impressively consistent WHIP. Since his return from Tommy John surgery, he varied between 1.05 and 1.15, with the last four seasons coming in a 1.12, 1.11, 1.10, and 1.10.

It’s sound alike starter day as Ivan Nova faces Aaron Nola as the Pirates battle the Phillies. Nova is now 13-7 since joining the Pirates with a 3.08 ERA in 27 starts. Nova does not strike out many batters, making him dependent on the Pirates defense. He walks just 0.8 batters per nine innings, however, the best rate by far in the majors in that time period. Nola owns an ERA close to five at home, mostly due to a higher home run rate allowed.

Continuing the sound alike theme, Alex Meyer and the Angels face Adalberto Mejia and the Twins. Meyer blows batters away with 62 K in 55 1/3 innings, but issues a high number of walks. That gives him a low BA allowed with an OBP against of .335. Mejia has the typical Twins home/road split, 1-2 with a 6.11 ERA at home, 2-1 with a 2.31 ERA away. Six of his nine home runs allowed came in Minnesota.

Enjoy!

April 8, 2017

Games of the Day

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The Twins own the best record in the majors as they try to stay undefeated on the season. They send Adalberto Mejia against the White Sox and Miguel Gonzalez. Mejia makes his first MLB start after a cup of coffee in 2016. He posted great walk and home run numbers in the minors with a decent strikeout rate. Gonzalez moved to Chicago from Baltimore last season, and saw his home run and walk rates drop, as well as his ERA.

The Blue Jays and Rays continue their series as Aaron Sanchez makes his 2017 debut against Chris Archer. Sanchez in his career consistently posts an ERA well below his FIP and xFIP. He induces a ton of ground balls, and it would appear that Toronto plays great defense behind him, as xFIP should account for that. Archer made a solid first start, walking one and striking out five in seven innings. Most importantly, he kept the ball in the park after allowing 30 home runs in 2016.

Finally, Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers take on the Rockies and Jon Gray. Not even Clayton Kershaw is immune to pitching at Coors, as he owns a 4.63 ERA in seventeen starts at the park. It’s the home run ball, as he allowed 13 dingers in 103 innings there. Gray is the opposite of Sanchez above, with ERAs much higher than his FIP and xFIP. It seems that when batters make contact against him, they square up the ball well, producing a high number of line drives and a career .329 BABIP.

Enjoy!

July 29, 2016

Nunez Heads West

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The Twins traded Eduardo Nunez to the Giants after Thursday night’s win against the Orioles:

The move adds some much-needed depth to San Francisco’s injury-plagued infield.

Second baseman Joe Panik was activated off the disabled list prior to the Giants’ game against Washington on Thursday, while third baseman Matt Duffy remains out with a strained left Achilles. Backup infielder Ehire Adrianza has also been sidelined since mid-April with a foot injury.

It looks like the Giants expect Nunez to be their utility infielder when the rest of the team is healthy again. That’s pretty much been his role until this season.

Adalberto Mejia goes to the Twins. He should fit right in with an organization that values pitchers who limit walks. This should be a trade that helps both teams.