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Juli
2019

Sunday starter still listed as TBD for Red S

Kick em� while they�re down !"EDIT: ox. Now hearing it could be bullpen gameThe World Champion Boston Red Sox come to town as the Diamondbacks play host during their home opening weekend.You can read about the pre game festivities http://www.marlinsfanproshop.com/authentic-starlin-castro-jersey , street fair, awards ceremonies, etc HERE. The DBacks are catching the Red Sox at either a very good or very bad time. Starting the year on an 11 game road trip has not gone so well for the world champs, having lost 3 of 4 to both the Mariners and the A�s.The lone victory in the A�s series camelast night courtesy of a Fernando Rodney blown save in the 9th.However they lost the series finale, dropping their record to 2-6.The turning point in that game was a defensive miscue between Jackie Bradley Jr, and Mookie Betts, both Gold Glovers.Their record is indicative of how they�ve played as their starting pitching has been awful and only a few guys in their lineup are hitting. So it�s either a good time to take advantage of them, or conversely, they may be due to wake up and start playing better. Lets hope it�s the former and not the latter.Due to luxury taxconcerns, and a desire to extend some of their core players, it was an uneventful offseason for the Red Sox. Their two biggest FA signings were to bring back post season heroes, Nathan Eovaldi and Steve Pearce, and their biggest trade acquisition was Colton Brewer, a reliever from the Brewers. (Would have been cooler if he stayed where he was)They also managed to sign ace starter Chris Sale to a 5 year, 145M extension, and just the other day also extended Xander Bogaerts for 6 years, 120M.A hanging cloud however is the fact that J.D. Martinez has an opt out after 2019.There is a widespread assumption he will exercise that opt out if he�s healthy.Then there is superstar and MVP Mookie Betts,who is afree agent after the 2020 season and does not seem amenable to a team friendly extension. Notable losses for the Red Sox are mostly from the bullpen, Craig Kimbrel remains an unsigned free agent, and Joe Kelly is now with the Dodgers. For a much more detailed off season review, be sure to check out MLB Trade RumorsThe Diamondbacks are not without their own issues of course.It was announced today that Jake Lamb has a grade 2 strain of his left quad and will be out a minimum of 6 weeks, as a �starting point�, per Torey Lovullo. Luvollo spoke at some length about howbig a blow losing both Lamb and Souza was to the team.Obviously a big blow to us, another big blow to us with the loss of Steven Souza..... two guys that you�re really counting on, two big horses in the race Wei-Yin Chen Jersey , that hurts. I�m not going to avoid thinking about it, I want to be real. I�m not going to try to sugar coat anything , because they are both very special players. In similar ways they are coming off 2018 injuries and you�re hoping that they�re going to be able to turn it aroundand come out and do what they�re supposed to do.It hurts double. Torey indicated that while Christian Walker will get the bulk of the playing time at 1st, Wilmer Flores will also get some looks. Alex Avila would only be used at first in more of an emergency situation. Red Sox: Who�s Hot ?JD Martinez. 12 for 33, .364. 3 HR, 8 RBI,1.053 OPSMitch Moreland. 6 for 22, 4 walks, 1 HR 5 RBI .930 OPSXander Bogaerts 7 for 25, .280, 4 Walks .899 OPSWho�s Not:Everyone else with more than 10 PA has under .700 OPSAs a team they are hitting .240/.306/.384, .690 OPS and scoring4.1 R/GBy contrast, the DBacks hitters have gotten off to a hot start, batting .280/.324/.526 .850 OPS, scoring 5.86 R/G , 5th best in MLBDBacks team stat pages here.The offense has been lead by Christian Walker and Adam Jones. Red Sox Pitching: See team stats here. The Red Sox rank 28thin team ERA , 6.00.The DBacks rank30th,7.14 ERA, and also rank 30th in team FBvelocity, 89.4 per Fangraphs . (MLB Avg is 92.7).Perhaps John Ryan Murphy�s outing drops the average a tick though.The Red Sox have gotten just one quality start in 8 tries.That came from Chris Sale in his second start of the year vs the A�s, but they lost that game too, 1-0.Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier are sharing the closing duties, and neither has allowed a run yet. Brewer and Brandon Workman are also unscored upon so far., As a whole, their bullpen has been pretty good. The main issue has been their rotation. Pitching MatchupsFriday Jeff Locke Jersey , April 5th, 4:10 PMRick Porcello, RHP, 0-1, 13.50 ERA vs. Zack Godley, RHP, 0-1, 11.81 ERAPorcello lasted just 2.2 IP in his first outing , giving up 9 runs(4 earned) on 6 hits, 4 walks and homer.Porcello has a 4 pitch mix, with a Fastball that sits around 91-92, and his best pitch is his slider, but he throws his curveball and changeup almost as much. Godley will look to rebound from an uneven season debut, brought on in part by a recurrence of the fielding problems that troubled him last year. Look to see if the Red Sox utilize the scouting report and attempt to bunt on him and make him field the ball, or if they are aggressive and swinging for the fences. The latter may play into Godley�s strength if he can keep them off balance with his curveball. Saturday, April 6th, 5:10 P.M.David Price, LHP 0-1, 6.00 ERA vs Luke Weaver 0-0, 8.31 ERAPrice pitched better than his final line looked as he gave up a 2 run homer in the 6thto end up with 4 earned runs against. The last couple of years Price has learned to deal with a little less velocity than he had in his Cy Young contending days, but he is still very effective throwingthree types of fastballs, a 4 seamer, a sinker and a cutter, allat speeds ranging from 88-94, averaging about 92 these days.He compliments that with a changeup in the mid to low 80�s that he uses about 1/3 of the time.Weaver will hope his pitching catches up to his hitting from last outing vs the Dodgers Cameron Maybin Jersey , as he gave up 3 in the 1st, 1 in the 3rdand 1 in the 4thand was unable to complete the 5thinning.He did seem to pitch better after the 1stinning though and hopefully can build off that.Sunday, April 7th,1:10 P.M.Brian Johnson, LHP 1-0, 2.08 ERA. Vs Merrill Kelly,RHP 1-0, 4.50 ERAAs of this writing the Sunday starter for the Red Sox has still not been posted.By rotation turn it should be Chris Sale, who last pitched on April 2nd. Despite the quality start alarm bells have been ringing as he recorded the lowest velocity of his careerin that start.Latest word I could find is he will pitch Tuesdayat home.Kelly turned in the DBacks first quality start in his MLB debut,allowing 3 runs in 6 IP.After the way the first 4 starters fared in LA, it almost felt like a complete game shutout. His Fastball averaged 91.5, and he mixed in hisCurveball and Changeup with effectiveness to keep Padre hitters off balance.Series Prediction:Do I really have to do this ? How about I predict a fun time at the ballpark. Even if not sold out there will be over 45,000 opening day.The team is expecting well over 100,000 for the weekend.As we know, the Red Sox travel well, and are loud. So drink some honey tea to sooth your throat before you head downtown and bring your bestand loudest vocal chords. The team is going to need your support. Milwaukee Brewers (24-16, second in the NL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (22-14, first in the NL Central)Chicago; Saturday, 2 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Brewers: Zach Davies (4-0, 1.56 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 26 strikeouts) Cubs: Cole Hamels (4-0, 3.38 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 44 strikeouts)Article continues below ...BOTTOM LINE: Milwaukee enters the matchup as winners of their last seven games.The Cubs are 6-4 against the rest of their division. The Chicago offense has compiled a .256 batting average as a team this season Lewis Brinson Jersey , good for seventh in the National League. Javier Baez leads the team with a mark of .318.The Brewers have gone 11-6 against division opponents. Milwaukee�s team on-base percentage of .319 is fourth in the National League. Christian Yelich leads the team with an OBP of .429. The Brewers won the last meeting 7-0. Gio Gonzalez earned his first victory and Ryan Braun went 1-for-4 with a home run and an RBI for Milwaukee. Jose Quintana took his second loss for Chicago.TOP PERFORMERS: Baez leads the Cubs with 24 extra base hits and is batting .318. Kris Bryant is 9-for-31 with two doubles, a triple, four home runs and 11 RBIs over the last 10 games for Chicago.Yelich leads the Brewers with 16 home runs and has 37 RBIs. Mike Moustakas is 11-for-43 with five doubles, two home runs and 10 RBIs over the last 10 games for Milwaukee.LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 8-2, .255 batting average, 2.64 ERA, outscored opponents by 24 runsBrewers: 8-2, .244 batting average, 3.09 ERA, outscored opponents by 12 runsCubs Injuries: Pedro Strop: 10-day IL (hamstring), Brandon Morrow: 60-day IL (elbow), Kendall Graveman: 60-day IL (elbow), Xavier Cedeno: 10-day IL (wrist), Tony Barnette: 60-day IL (shoulder), Daniel Descalso: day-to-day (ankle), Victor Caratini: 10-day IL (hand).Brewers Injuries: Bobby Wahl: 60-day IL (knee), Brent Suter: 60-day IL (elbow), Jimmy Nelson: 10-day IL (shoulder), Corey Knebel: 60-day IL (elbow), Chase Anderson: 10-day IL (finger).