Tag Archives: Chris Heston

September 27, 2015

Games of the Day

Texas can reduce their magic number for the AL West title to three with a win over the Astros Sunday afternoon. Martin Perez faces Dallas Keuchel. Perez has yet to win in seven starts on the road this season, 0-4 with a 5.59 ERA. Keuchel has been hammered by home runs in September, giving up six in 26 1/3 innings after allowing 10 the first five months of the season.

San Francisco needs a win to stay alive in the NL West as Chris Heston faces the Athletics and Sean Nolin. Heston posted a good rookie year, winning more than he lost, and striking out more than twice as many as he walked. Nolin’s three-true outcomes have been terrible so far, with 12 K, 10 BB, and three home runs in 21 2/3 innings.

A Giants loss means the Dodgers can clinch the NL West with a win, and Alex Wood will try to clinch at least a tie as he faces the Rockies and Chris Rusin. Wood is 4-5 with a 3.72 ERA since joining the Dodgers. He’s pitching well in September with a 3.13 ERA. Rusin’s ERA is high both at home and on the road, but with run support at home he’s 4-3, versus 1-6 away.

Finally, the Pirates go for a sweep of the Cubs and their ninth straight win as A.J. Burnett takes on leading Cy Young candidate Jake Arrieta. Burnett owns a 1.47 ERA against the Cubs in three starts this season, with just a 1-0 record to show for his efforts. Arrieta has not lost in his last 11 starts, blowing away all MLB competition with an 0.66 ERA in that time. He allowed just one home run in his last 81 1/3 innings.

Enjoy!

August 30, 2015

Games of the Day

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Jaime Garcia takes on Chris Heston as the Cardinals and Giants play the rubber game of their series. Garcia is just 6-4 this season despite a 1.77 ERA. The Cardinals were shut out four times in his start, and scored three runs or less four other times. Heston does a great job keeping the ball in the park with just nine home runs allowed in 145 2/3 innings. Only two of those came at home.

The Cubs and Dodgers get the Sunday night game as Jake Arrieta faces Alex Wood. Arrieta is in the Cy Young conversation, so the Dodgers knocking him around would help their two candidates. Arrieta tears it up on the road, 10-1 with a 1.94 ERA. He’s better on the road than at home in all three-true outcomes, but he cuts his home run rate in half away. Wood was 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA against the Dodgers this year, which makes me wonder if that was why Los Angeles acquired him from the Braves. He’s 2-2 with a 4.34 ERA since joining the Dodgers.

Enjoy!

August 17, 2015

Games of the Day

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Sonny Gray returns to the Oakland rotation after missing a start. He faces the hot Orioles offense and Chris Tillman on the mound. Gray trails AL leader Dallas Keuchel by 0.5 Tom Tango Cy Young Tracker points. A decent outing put Gray on top. Tillman only waked four batters in four starts since the All-Star break, helping him to a 2.08 ERA in those starts.

Erasmo Ramirez leads the Rays against the Astros and former Tampa Bay pitcher Scott Kazmir. Ramirez pitched better as a starter than a reliever this season, with a 3.20 ERA in the rotation, allowing a .218/.285/.331 slash line. Kazmir owns a 1.04 ERA in four starts with Houston, but he allowed four unearned runs which helped him go 1-2 so far with his new team.

Finally, Chris Heston takes on Michael Wacha as the Giants visit the Cardinals. Heston allowed just eight home runs this season, but six have come on the road. Wacha goes for his 15th win. His career ERA stands at 2.99.

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August 6, 2015

Games of the Day

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Michael Wacha goes for his 13th win as the Cardinals face Michael Lorenzen and the Reds in an early afternoon game. Wacha’s ERA is about a run higher on the road than at home, but owns a better strikeout and walk rate away. The ERA has not effected his record, 5-2 at home, 7-2 away. Lorenzen, a 23-year-old rookie, gets hit by the double whammy of walking tons of batters and giving up lots of home runs. He was better in the minors at keeping the ball in the park.

Zack Greinke takes on the Phillies as the Dodger battle David Buchanan. Greinke allowed one hit in eight innings against the Phillies earlier this season. He allowed just five of his 23 extra-base hits on the road this year. Buchanan owns a low walk and a low strikeout rate. With all the balls in play, batters are hitting .310 against him.

The best pitching match-up of the day pits Chris Heston and the Giants against Jason Hammel and the Cubs. Heston’s strength is keeping the ball in park, with just six home runs allowed in 130 2/3 innings. Hammel is stingy with free passes, walking just 24 batters in 118 innings.

August 1, 2015

Games of the Day

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Clayton Kershaw gets listed as a starter again as the Dodgers continue their series with the Angels. LAnaheim sends 5-0 Andrew Heaney to the mound. I wonder how many times the Dodgers will scratch Kershaw before he goes on the disabled list?

Joe Ross takes on Jacob deGrom as the Mets try to gain another game on the Nationals. Ross is a rookie, de Grom in his second year, but Jacob is five years older than Ross, making Ross’s upside a bit higher.

Chris Heston and the Giants get the assignment of greeting Cole Hamels to Rangers. Hamels pitched well against the Giants in his career in terms of three-true outcomes, but that has not led to a low ERA.

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July 1, 2015

Games of the Day

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Chad Bettis leads the Rockies against Oakland and Jesse Hahn. Bettis actually pitched worse on the road than at home, where he allowed three of his four home runs in 7 2/3 fewer innings. Hahn is coming off a good June in which he posted a 2.90 ERA despite striking out just 18 batters in 31 innings.

A.J. Burnett faces Alfredo Simon in the game between the Pirates and the Tigers. Burnett holds batters to a .178 BA (16 for 90) with runners in scoring position this year. Simon owns a 2.33 ERA at home this year, allowing just two of his eight home runs in Detroit.

Chris Heston takes on Dan Haren as the Giants continue their series with the Marlins. Heston shows good control with 79 strikeouts and just 23 walks in 91 2/3 innings this season. Haren is even better with just 18 walks in 93 1/3 innings. That came might move quickly.

Edinson Volquez takes on Vincent Velasquez in a battle of old and young as the Royals finish their series against the AStros. Volquez was able to carry his success with the Pirates over to the Royals, even lowering his home run rate. Velasquez struck out 19 in 19 1/3 major league innings, but he has walked 11.

Enjoy!

June 19, 2015

Games of the Day

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Alex Rodriguez goes for his 3000th hit against against Justin Verlander as the Yankees play the Tigers. Rodriguez owns the highest career slugging percentage against Verlander of any player with at least 20 PA against him, .821.

The red hot Pirates, winners of eight in a row, send A.J. Burnett against the reeling Nationals and Joe Ross. Expect a lot of strikeouts in the game, as Ross walked one and struck out 12 in his brief career, and Burnett is usually good for plenty of swings and misses.

On the west coast, Chris Heston takes on Mike Bolsinger as the Giants and Dodgers renew their rivalry in Los Angeles. Two and one half games separate the teams in the standings.

Enjoy!

June 9, 2015

Prying a Hit Out of His Cold, Dead Hands

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Chris Heston tries to become the first pitcher to toss a no-hitter in 2015. He has two outs in the ninth, having struck out 10. He has not walked a batter, but did hit three.

Update: Ruben Tejada gets ahead 2-1. Heston evens the count 2-2, then Tejada looks at strike three. The Giants beat the Mets 5-0, and Chris Heston throws a no-hitter in his 13th MLB start!

Update: Heston worked very efficiently, throwing just 110 pitches, 72 for strikes. A very impressive outing.

June 2, 2015

Games of the Day

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On a two for Tuesday, the majors offer not one, but two double headers as the Blue Jays make up a game with the Nationals and the Dodgers play two at Colorado. Game two of the Washington double header offers and excellent match up as Marco Estrada faces Max Scherzer. Don’t expect many walks.

Milwaukee brings Tyler Cravy as the debut season continues. He gets the tough assignment of facing Lance Lynn and the Cardinals. Cravy was a high strikeout, low walk pitcher in the minors.

Game two of the Rockies double header also offers a great match-up as Cy Young candidate Zack Greinke takes on David Hale. Hale did not walk a batter in 6 2/3 innings during his first start of the season, but allowed eight hits.

Chris Archer battles C.J. Wilson as the Rays visit the Angels.

A.J. Burnett takes on Chris Heston in the game between the Pirates and the Giants.

Enjoy!

May 17, 2015

Games of the Day

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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.

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April 13, 2015

Games of the Day

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The Tigers travel to Pittsburgh for an interleague game as Anibal Sanchez takes on Gerrit Cole. Sanchez is a master of keeping the ball in park. Since the start of the 2013 season, he allowed the lowest HR per 9 IP of anyone with at least 300 innings pitched. Cole doesn’t seem to try to control the running game, allowing 32 steals in 42 attempts in his career.

The Rockies make their way to San Francisco as Eddie Butler faces Chris Heston. Butler has been wild in his short major league career, walking 11 21 2/3 innings so far, including four in his first start of 2015. I’ll be watching for the point of of the game when Bruce Bochy takes out Heston, to see if he has to pry the ball out of his cold, dead hand. 🙂 Heston kept his walks low in the minors, so the Giants hope he shows that control in the majors.

The Rays visit the Great White North as Jake Odorizzi faces R.A. Dickey of the Blue Jays. Odorizzi was on in his first start, recording seven strikeouts, no walks, and just two hits allowed. Dickey cut his ERA by half a run in 2014 compared to his 2013 season with the Jays. His record didn’t change, however, coming in at 14-13 again.

Finally, Scott Kazmir leads the Athletics against Houston and Scott Feldman. Kazmir continues to pitch well since his return to the majors in 2013. His walk rate in that time is an excellent 2.5 per 9 IP. Feldman turned in one of the best seasons of his career in 2014, and starts 2015 with one run allowed in his first 6 2/3 innings.

Enjoy!