Coach Fletcher’s Sunday Scouting Edge
Sunday, August 2
10:07 am Kansas City Royals at Toronto Blue Jays
Volquez Tries to Stop Dickey in Toronto
Blue Jay knuckle-baller R.A. Dickey has been on a roll lately. Edidson Volquez will try to get the win for the Royals. Dickey doesn’t have the stellar stats, but he has been tough lately. He’s 5-10 with a 4.27 era on the year. But Dickey also has 4 straight quality starts under his belt and has allowed 3 runs or fewer in 10 of his last 11 starts. Dickey has also gone 3 straight games without giving up a home run. He’s 2-4 with a 3.00 era in his last 7 starts going 48 innings. Dickey is 4-3 with a 3.43 era at home. Dickey opened as a -140 favorite.
10:10 am Pittsburgh Pirates at Cincinnati Reds
Keyvius Sampson Makes First Start for the Reds
Sampson made his major league debut last Thursday pitching a perfect inning while fanning 2 against the Pirates in a relief role. Sampson started his minor league career at the tender age of 18 in 2009. In 7 seasons at various levels Sampson has combined to go 40-35 with a 4.17 era. Sampson has had some success at times but has been relatively unsuccessful at the Triple-A level. At that level in parts of 3 seasons he has gone 6-12 with 6.40 era. This season at Louisville he has gone 2-14 with a 5.08 era. Sampson has had a 2.10 K/BB ratio in Triple-A.
12:05 pm San Francisco Giants at Texas Rangers
Perez Tries to Recover Against World Champs
Martin Perez of the Rangers is making his 4th start after Tommy John surgery. Things haven’t turned out well for him. Perez is 15-15 with a 4.37 era in his career but has been hit hard since his return from Tommy John. In his last start versus the Yankees, things couldn’t have gone much worse. After retiring the NYY in the first, the next 8 Yankees reached base. The line for Perez in this one was 1 inning pitched, 7 hits, 8 earned runs and 1 strike out. Prior to this disaster Perez went 11 innings giving up 15 hits, 6 earned runs, walked 6 while fanning 4 batters. Considering the Giants are hitting .287 versus LHP, Perez may be in for another short appearance.
1:05 Cleveland Indians at Oakland Athletics
Gray Goes for 12th Win Against Indians Today
Sonny had a brief lull where he wasn’t himself, but he came back with vengeance in his last start versus the Dodgers. Gray is 11-4 with a 2.16 era. Gray is right in the thick of the Cy Young race and his 12th win would tie him for the AL lead. In his last start against the league leading Dodgers, Gray went the full 9 innings and allowed 3 hits, 0 runs, walked 1 and fanned 9. In his previous start he went 7 innings against the Blue Jays and allowed 9 hits and 2 runs. Gray, who has stellar numbers on the road, is still a respectable 3-3 with a 2.84 era at home. The daylight appeals to Sonny as he is 5-1 with a 0.92 era in day games. Gray opened at -154.
1:10 pm Los Angeles Angels at Los Angeles Angels
Rucinski Tries to Salvage Finale for Slumping Halos
26 year old Drew Rucinski will try to stop the Halo freefall when he gets the start against their cross-town rivals. The Angels have lost 5 in a row to the Astros and Dodgers. He comes up from Triple-A Salt Lake City where he was 5-5 with a 5.03 era. In 2014 he was 10-6 with a 3.16 era at Double-A Arkansas. In 5 seasons in the minors Rucinski is 32-24 with a 3.44 era. He’s averaged 8 strike outs per game and his K/BB ration is 3.35:1 during his minor league career. In 12 innings in the major leagues Rucinski has a 6.0 era.
This just in - Angels right-hander Cory Rasmus will be tabbed to make the start against the Dodgers on Sunday. Rasmus, who was recalled earlier this week, will make his first start of the season for the Angels.
He did pitch an inning of relief on Friday, his first appearance of 2015. Rasmus has made 10 appearances--including three starts--with Triple-A Salt Lake this year. He is 0-1 with a 2.35 ERA in 15 1/3 innings with the Bees.