Stats courtesy of Fangraphs.
Tonight, Kyle Drabek squares off against Jon Lester, one of the top four or five pitchers in the American League. Lester has been pretty much the same pitcher this year that he was last year (a little better, actually): lots of Ks, good control, not too many hits allowed, a high ground ball percentage... classic Very Good Pitcher. He's not the type of pitcher you can wait out, hoping to run up a high pitch count; I think the Jays will have to just hope for a few juicy pitches here and there, and make sure they connect when they get one. Hey, I should be a hitting coach!
Drabek could be in for a long night. The youngster has walked almost six batters per nine innings this year, and that includes games against teams like Minnesota and Seattle (in fairness, it also includes two games against the Yankees). The Red Sox are a very patient team, featuring hitters like Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, Adrian Gonzalez and J.D. Drew, guys who rack up the walks year in and year out. I'd rather see him go up there just trying to throw strikes, and who cares if he gets hit around a little bit.
Tomorrow, we get John Lackey. I still think Lackey will turn it around and, if not return to the form of his LA Angels days, at least come close. But at the moment he is not pitching well, striking out less than five per nine, walking more than usual, giving up lots of fly balls... classic Not Very Good Pitcher. Jesse Litsch, who on the other hand has pitched very well this year by getting his Ks up to near-power pitcher levels, has the upper hand.
After a slow start, the Sox have turned things around somewhat and now sit at 17-18. However, they still aren't really hitting - they've averaged 3.9 runs per game over their last 10. The main problem has been a lack of power - Youkilis leads the team with just five home runs, while Ortiz and Gonzalez each have four. This will change.
First pitch 7:07 at the RC.