Another nemesis arrives
The Cleveland Guardians and Houston Astros will meet for a three-game series this weekend at Progressive Field.
The Guardians are 33-28 with a -17 run differential, 20th in team wRC+ at 94, 13th in baserunning runs above average at 0.4, fourth in Defense at 4, 26th in starting pitcher SIERA at 4.44, and fifth in bullpen SIERA at 3.39.
The Astros are 34-28 with a +21 run differential, 14th in team wRC+ at 102, 15th in baserunning runs above average at -0.3, eighth in Defense at -0.8, second in starting pitcher SIERA at 3.55, and third in bullpen SIERA at 3.27.
Matchups:
Game One, Friday, 7:05PM EDT: Colton Gordon, LHP, 3.48 SIERA vs. Logan Allen, LHP 5.00 SIERA
Game Two, Saturday, 4:10PM EDT: Hunter Brown, RHP, 2.90 SIERA vs. Gavin Williams, RHP, 4.24 SIERA
Game Three, Sunday, 1:40PM EDT: TBD (probably Lance McCullers, RHP, 3.50 SIERA) vs. Tanner Bibee, RHP, 4.31 SIERA
The Astros are led by Jeremy Pena 149 wRC+, Isaac Paredes 135 wRC+, Jake Myers 114 wRC+, Victor Caritini 114 wRC+, Cam Smith 101 wRC+ and Jose Altuve 101 wRC+.
The Guardians’ few offensive standouts are Jose Ramirez 160 wRC+, Steven Kwan 129 wRC+, Daniel Schneemann 127 wRC+, Carlos Santana 121 wRC+ and Kyle Manzardo 107 wRC+.
On paper, if the recent improvement from Guardians’ starting pitcher is real, these should be low-scoring games. The key for the Guardians will be getting some runs on the board early and bearing down to make it hold up. Simply put, the Guardians won’t be going to the playoffs if they can’t figure out how to get more from the Bo Naylor, Nolan Jones/Jhonkensy Noel, Gabriel Arias, Angel Martinez, Will Wilson brigade. Orrrrr… from whomever they choose to replace someone in this group with (PLEASE give Jhonk a break in Columbus, Antonetti, please get healthy, Lane Thomas, to make that happen). It is nice for the Guardians that they won’t see Yordan Alvarez this series; get well soon, Yordan, just not before we leave town.
It’s important to find a way to win this series and give your team some confidence heading tino the rest of June.