Patrick Corbin (TEX) vs Tarik Skubal (DET)
We cashed in on Casey Mize’s strikeout total on Friday against the Rockies, so let’s reload again here with Detroit’s ace, Tarik Skubal, preparing for his eighth start.
The 28-year-old left-hander isn’t quite on pace to match the Cy Young numbers he posted last year, but he still ranks 15th in total strikeouts in the league behind a tidy 2.45 ERA.
The Rangers fired their offensive coordinator earlier in the week, while they are also among the top five worst teams in the league at swinging at pitches thrown outside the strike zone.
Tomoyuki Sugano (BAL) vs Kyle Hendricks (LAA)
Small edge here on the Angels with ‘The Professor’ Kyle Hendricks taking the bump.
The master of low-velocity breaking balls bounced back with a tidy outing against the Tigers last week, pitching through seven innings where he allowed only one earned run off four hits.
Ryan O’Hearn has been Baltimore’s best hitter this season, and not to take anything away from his efforts, but it tells you all you need to know about the O’s offensively with guys like Gunnar Henderson on the team.
Worse, Baltimore holds the ninth-highest strikeout rate over the last seven days, so if Hendricks is on with his stuff, this could be a good spot to back the Halos.
Roki Sasaki (LAD) vs Eduardo Rodriguez (ARI)
Game 2 between the defending champs and the DBacks sees Roki Sasaki take the mound on the back of last week’s five-inning, three run outing in Atlanta.
The Dodgers’ big offseason signing has played a huge part in the rotation with injuries to Tyler Glasnow and others starting to pile up, but I still have question marks on him when it comes to allowing homers.
His strikeout numbers and overall velocity hasn’t been great during his first year in the majors, and against a DBacks lineup loaded with Corbin Carroll, who is a front-runner in the NL MVP conversation, and big boppers like Eugenio Suarez, I think there’s a case to be made for Arizona here.