1 – McKenzie jersey day
Triston McKenzie will be making his second start for the Guardians in the 2023 season and fans will have an opportunity to get a McKenzie jersey as well as it is his jersey giveaway at Progressive tonight.
2 – 307
Jose Ramirez hit his 307th double on Friday passing Ken Keltner for sixth-most in franchise history.
3 – Cody Morris update
Manager Terry Francona announced that RHP Cody Morris will be making two relief appearances this Sunday and Wednesday in Columbus. Morris will only pitch one-inning outings and at that point, the club will determine the next steps.
Even with 20 runs scored over the last 2 games the Cleveland Guardians have struggled significantly on the offensive front throughout this season. They currently still rank 29th in MLB with a team OPS of .663, averaging a mere 3.73 runs per game. Our struggles are particularly evident at home, where they have scored just 3.13 runs on average, ranking 29th in the league. In 30 home games, we still possess a team slash line of .234/.302/.359, further highlighting our offensive challenges. As expected, Jose Ramirez has been a bright spot, performing admirably with a .807 OPS, ten home runs, 36 RBI, 34 runs scored, and an impressive 25:23 walk-to-strikeout ratio.
Shifting focus to Triston McKenzie, his lone appearance this season makes it challenging to assess his performance. However, delving into his 2022 Baseball Savant page, he displayed promise, finishing in the 81st percentile for walk percentage. McKenzie relies on a three-pitch arsenal, with each of his pitches thrown at least 17.7 percent of the time last year. In his encounters with the Astros during the previous season, he was victorious twice, pitching 15 innings and allowing only one run on five hits, accompanied by two walks and 11 strikeouts.
The Houston Astros need to enhance their performance at the plate, currently ranking 21st in MLB with a team OPS of .713, despite averaging 4.49 runs per game this season. Interestingly, their offensive production has been slightly better on the road, where they sit at 17th place with a .720 road OPS, accompanied by an average of 4.55 runs scored in their 31 road games. Notably, right fielder Kyle Tucker has been excelling with a solid slash line of .271/.343/.440, along with eight home runs, 36 RBI, 25 runs scored, and eight successful steals out of nine attempts.
Unfortunately, J.P. France has experienced a lackluster start to the season, as indicated by his Baseball Savant page, where he ranks in the ninth percentile for chase rate. He relies on a repertoire of five different pitches, with his fastball being utilized 41.2 percent of the time. While he is about to make his first career start against the Guardians, he has demonstrated competence on the road thus far.
These two teams boast exceptional bullpens, with Cleveland ranking second in the majors with a reliever ERA of 3.12, and Houston following closely in fourth place with a bullpen ERA of 3.28. Both teams have struggled to find success in terms of their batting averages on balls in play throughout the season. The Astros currently are 17th in the league with a team BABIP of .290, while the Guardians ranks 24th with a team BABIP of .281. It’s worth noting that in five of the last seven games played at Progressive Field, the total runs scored have fallen below eight. Therefore, it would be wise to consider taking the UNDER 8 RUNS in this game, especially with the last 2 games hitting way over the total runs line.
Our Pick: Under 8 Runs
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