Welcome to a wonderful edition of crap shoot. Tomorrow is my father's birthday, and what a wonderful gift I have for him. Tickets to the Ranger Game tonight. Fireworks after the game. Thursday, Sept 1st, I take him to the Cowboys vs. the Jags. Am I a good son, or what? (And my dad would then say "Or what.") But alas, I do try. Great seats, too. My definition of good seats consists more than just being in the stadium. I want to be as close as possible but not spending a fortune. Coupons. Does my wife proud. So, let's check up on what will happen to the Rangers tonight.
Rangers vs. Twins - Loe vs. Lohse - I am looking forward to this game, just to see Kameron Loe. I think he has the stuff to make in the Big Leagues for a good long time. A rookie, pitching out of the bullpen all season, this will be his first start. Some pitchers can switch from bullpen to starter and visa versa fairly easily, while others just can't handle starting at all. This will be interesting. In his last 10 games that he has pitched in, 2 were bad, 1 was undesirable, and the other seven were just great (but only added up to 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball). He isn't as good at home as on the road, 5.82 ERA and hitters rough him up for a .300 ave all at home. His overall ERA is 4.17, though. He did pitch 1 2/3 innings on Tuesday, so no more than 5 innings from him tonight. May be a good thing. Minnesota only has 4 at bats against him (.250 ave) and two Ks. If they touch the ball, they have a good shot. I wouldn't expect Loe to have 12 Ks in this. Just not likely. Lohse has only pitched 2 innings of work against TX, giving up 2 hits and 1 of those was a tripper. He is 8-11 this year, but here's the thing to look at, he has a 2.39 ERA this month., 3.89 ERA on the road, and a 4.09 ERA for the season. However, the Rangers FEAST off this guy, hitting him .330 against him. 3 dingers, 11 RBIs in 97 at bats. Soriano alone is 6-15, Mench is 5-10, and Tex is 4-9. All three each have a homer against him. I am going to go with my gut on this and say Rangers 6-3. Mench will be my MLB pick today.
Braves vs. The Alcoholics (Brewers) - Ramirez vs. Sheets - Did you know the Brewers are 3 games under right now? And people think they are good? What a shame. They couldn't take it in the Awesome League, so they moved over to the Naughty League. I guess they wanted to cheat more. Who knows. Rangers must have been too much for them. Sheets isn't all that bad, though. If he had the Rangers run support, he could be 12-6 at least. (He is 9-9, btw) He has a 3.44 ERA this year and is 6-3 in his last 10 starts. Coming on strong. 4 of his last 5 starts, he has gone 9 innings. WOW! But, he was embarrassed by the Rockies, another alcoholic team (Coors Field? I bet they serve Bud Light there, too). He does have a 4.09 ERA this month, but a 2.57 ERA against the Braves. The Braves are hitting .296 against him this year and that may come up to haunt him if he is not careful. Career, the Braves are hitting .306 against him, and the Jones brothers feast off him. Throw in Giles, you have three hitters with an average over .400 against him. Brian Jordan is hitting .556 against him, as well. Ramirez has a 4.61 ERA this year and a 10-7 record. (By the way, the Braves are OVER .500) Ramirez isn't so good on the road or this month for that matter, which may keep the Brewheads in the game. He has a 5.92 ERA this month (OUCH) and a 5.87 ERA on the road this year. But here is the shining light for this. Brewers are only hitting .154 against him (6-39) plus a whopping 8 walks. He has not pitched against the Brewers this year. Take the Braves in a comebacker 6-5.
Phillies (the minor leaguers) vs. D-Backs - Myers vs. Halsey - Halsey has a 4.39 ERA this year and is 8-10. That is respectable, considering the team he is on, but his last 3 starts have been a monstrosity, to say the least. 17 earned runs in only 14 1/3 innings. He is young, though, his previous 5 starts he one gave up 5 earned runs in 33 1/3 innings. He is still trying to figure out the majors, I guess. He has pitched against the female horses, going 6 innings and giving up 6 runs (9 hits and 2 dingers). A good stat to consider is how he pitches at home. He has a 3.38 ERA in his house. Current Philly hitters have a .333 ave against him (8 for 24), so he may be roughed up a little. Now, to Mr. Myers. 3.48 ERA this year, 2.67 on the road, and a 4.50 against the D-Backs this year. Also, notable is he has a 4.76 this month. He will strike people out. He's got a 11-6 mark this year and holds current D-Back hitters to a .234 ave. D-Backs will go yard against him, they have 6 dingers, but only account for 9 RBIs. No real great offensive numbers against this guy for the D-Backs to really talk about. Gonzalez will probably be the designated K, he has K'd 4 times in 9 at bats. 2 more today? Most likely. So, with everything before me, I think that it really depends mor on Halsey's performance. Can he bounce back and take care of business against a tema he has little success? I think so, I think he is going to make some adjustments and end the Arizona loosing streak. D-Backs in a thriller 4-3.
There will be more later... I have to take care of some things.
Rangers vs. Twins - Loe vs. Lohse - I am looking forward to this game, just to see Kameron Loe. I think he has the stuff to make in the Big Leagues for a good long time. A rookie, pitching out of the bullpen all season, this will be his first start. Some pitchers can switch from bullpen to starter and visa versa fairly easily, while others just can't handle starting at all. This will be interesting. In his last 10 games that he has pitched in, 2 were bad, 1 was undesirable, and the other seven were just great (but only added up to 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball). He isn't as good at home as on the road, 5.82 ERA and hitters rough him up for a .300 ave all at home. His overall ERA is 4.17, though. He did pitch 1 2/3 innings on Tuesday, so no more than 5 innings from him tonight. May be a good thing. Minnesota only has 4 at bats against him (.250 ave) and two Ks. If they touch the ball, they have a good shot. I wouldn't expect Loe to have 12 Ks in this. Just not likely. Lohse has only pitched 2 innings of work against TX, giving up 2 hits and 1 of those was a tripper. He is 8-11 this year, but here's the thing to look at, he has a 2.39 ERA this month., 3.89 ERA on the road, and a 4.09 ERA for the season. However, the Rangers FEAST off this guy, hitting him .330 against him. 3 dingers, 11 RBIs in 97 at bats. Soriano alone is 6-15, Mench is 5-10, and Tex is 4-9. All three each have a homer against him. I am going to go with my gut on this and say Rangers 6-3. Mench will be my MLB pick today.
Braves vs. The Alcoholics (Brewers) - Ramirez vs. Sheets - Did you know the Brewers are 3 games under right now? And people think they are good? What a shame. They couldn't take it in the Awesome League, so they moved over to the Naughty League. I guess they wanted to cheat more. Who knows. Rangers must have been too much for them. Sheets isn't all that bad, though. If he had the Rangers run support, he could be 12-6 at least. (He is 9-9, btw) He has a 3.44 ERA this year and is 6-3 in his last 10 starts. Coming on strong. 4 of his last 5 starts, he has gone 9 innings. WOW! But, he was embarrassed by the Rockies, another alcoholic team (Coors Field? I bet they serve Bud Light there, too). He does have a 4.09 ERA this month, but a 2.57 ERA against the Braves. The Braves are hitting .296 against him this year and that may come up to haunt him if he is not careful. Career, the Braves are hitting .306 against him, and the Jones brothers feast off him. Throw in Giles, you have three hitters with an average over .400 against him. Brian Jordan is hitting .556 against him, as well. Ramirez has a 4.61 ERA this year and a 10-7 record. (By the way, the Braves are OVER .500) Ramirez isn't so good on the road or this month for that matter, which may keep the Brewheads in the game. He has a 5.92 ERA this month (OUCH) and a 5.87 ERA on the road this year. But here is the shining light for this. Brewers are only hitting .154 against him (6-39) plus a whopping 8 walks. He has not pitched against the Brewers this year. Take the Braves in a comebacker 6-5.
Phillies (the minor leaguers) vs. D-Backs - Myers vs. Halsey - Halsey has a 4.39 ERA this year and is 8-10. That is respectable, considering the team he is on, but his last 3 starts have been a monstrosity, to say the least. 17 earned runs in only 14 1/3 innings. He is young, though, his previous 5 starts he one gave up 5 earned runs in 33 1/3 innings. He is still trying to figure out the majors, I guess. He has pitched against the female horses, going 6 innings and giving up 6 runs (9 hits and 2 dingers). A good stat to consider is how he pitches at home. He has a 3.38 ERA in his house. Current Philly hitters have a .333 ave against him (8 for 24), so he may be roughed up a little. Now, to Mr. Myers. 3.48 ERA this year, 2.67 on the road, and a 4.50 against the D-Backs this year. Also, notable is he has a 4.76 this month. He will strike people out. He's got a 11-6 mark this year and holds current D-Back hitters to a .234 ave. D-Backs will go yard against him, they have 6 dingers, but only account for 9 RBIs. No real great offensive numbers against this guy for the D-Backs to really talk about. Gonzalez will probably be the designated K, he has K'd 4 times in 9 at bats. 2 more today? Most likely. So, with everything before me, I think that it really depends mor on Halsey's performance. Can he bounce back and take care of business against a tema he has little success? I think so, I think he is going to make some adjustments and end the Arizona loosing streak. D-Backs in a thriller 4-3.
There will be more later... I have to take care of some things.
1 Random Thoughts:
we'll go with the d'backs too, but maybe with a higher score. let's say, 8-6.
lotsa reasons for the demise of the d-backs. we paid way too much for estes & ortiz. but the real killer is the under-production of our vaunted "G Force" : Gonzales, Glaus, and Green.
if they were 'normal' players, we'd bench 'em and go with connor jackson and other AAA players. but they're our high-priced marquee players, so you can't sit them down. so they continue to play, underperform; and we keep losing.
for the record, our "C Force" has been much more productive. Counsell, Clayton, and Clark.
Post a Comment