The road trip concludes at Camden Yards. I expect the Jays will be happy to take two of the three games. This would salvage a split on the road trip, and let everybody come home in a Good Mood.
The Jays opened their season against the Orioles just two weeks ago. You may recall that left fielder Colton Cowser broke his thumb sliding into first base in the finale. He will be out until June, most likely. Shortstop Gunnar Henderson missed that opening series, but he's back in the lineup now. He hasn't started hitting yet, and he's generally scuffled against the Blue Jays. Somehow, that doesn't seem to comfort me.
The Orioles, like most teams these days, have most of a starting rotation on the IL - they're currently without Opening Day starter Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez, and Kyle Bradish. With Corbin Burnes having split for the desert, and sub-optimal work from holdover Dean Kremer and new guy Charlie Morton, run prevention has been an issue so far in the young season.
Notorious Blue Jays killer Ryan Mountcastle went just 2-13 in this year's opening series. Did anyone notice that last year the Jays actually held Mountcastle to .235/.291/.471. Did they finally adjust the scouting report? Baby steps, people.
While no team in the majors has hit fewer HRs than the Jays, their offensive production (scoring runs!) is still within shouting distance of league average. This is mainly because they've been getting people on base, and they've been doing that with their bats - the Jays are hitting .254 as a team (league average is .231), which is the main reason they have the league's third best OnBase (.332).
There. I think I've set the table for a 13-12 game, dontcha think?
Matchups!
Fri 11 Apr - Francis (1-1, 3.18) vs Sugano (1-1, 2.89)
Sat 12 Apr - Berrios (1-1, 4.58) vs Povich (0-1, 3.48)
Sun 13 Apr - Lucas (2-0, 0.00) vs Some Guy (?-?, ?.??)
The Jays opened their season against the Orioles just two weeks ago. You may recall that left fielder Colton Cowser broke his thumb sliding into first base in the finale. He will be out until June, most likely. Shortstop Gunnar Henderson missed that opening series, but he's back in the lineup now. He hasn't started hitting yet, and he's generally scuffled against the Blue Jays. Somehow, that doesn't seem to comfort me.
The Orioles, like most teams these days, have most of a starting rotation on the IL - they're currently without Opening Day starter Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez, and Kyle Bradish. With Corbin Burnes having split for the desert, and sub-optimal work from holdover Dean Kremer and new guy Charlie Morton, run prevention has been an issue so far in the young season.
Notorious Blue Jays killer Ryan Mountcastle went just 2-13 in this year's opening series. Did anyone notice that last year the Jays actually held Mountcastle to .235/.291/.471. Did they finally adjust the scouting report? Baby steps, people.
While no team in the majors has hit fewer HRs than the Jays, their offensive production (scoring runs!) is still within shouting distance of league average. This is mainly because they've been getting people on base, and they've been doing that with their bats - the Jays are hitting .254 as a team (league average is .231), which is the main reason they have the league's third best OnBase (.332).
But the reason they've won more than they've lost is because only Kansas City has allowed fewer runs (and the Royals have played two fewer games.)
Did I note that pretty much half of the 49 runs the Jays have allowed so far came in those opening four games against the Orioles? I have now.
There. I think I've set the table for a 13-12 game, dontcha think?
Matchups!
Fri 11 Apr - Francis (1-1, 3.18) vs Sugano (1-1, 2.89)
Sat 12 Apr - Berrios (1-1, 4.58) vs Povich (0-1, 3.48)
Sun 13 Apr - Lucas (2-0, 0.00) vs Some Guy (?-?, ?.??)
