The Rangers leave Philly off of a huge series winner, They head to Baltimore for a three game series. Now It is worth mentioning that Texas used everybody at some point in Philly- Cole Winn threw 19 pitches on Saturday and 11 on Sunday, Robert Garcia threw 19 Saturday and 14 Sunday, Chris Martin 12 Saturday and 3 Sunday, and Carter Baumler logged 43 pitches on Sunday alone. That matters heading into Monday, the arms aren’t as fresh as you’d like and that is going to put a lot of weight on the starters to eat innings this week.
Game by Game Breakdown
Game 1 · Monday · 5:35 PM CST
Jack Leiter vs. Chris Bassitt
Leiter has yet to pitch against Baltimore in his short career, which in my opinion should help him out since the lineup will not have any feel for him. The only Orioles who have seen him at all are Taylor Ward and Blaze Alexander, both going 1-3 against him. However niether one is an everyday guy so i am unsure we even get that matchup again. The Rangers Hitters however have Raked against bassit who collectively have a .309/.392/.600 slash line against him. Joc Pederson seems to have his number going 5-10 with a double and two home runs against him to date. This should be a nice spot for Joc to produce Monday.
Given where the bullpen stands coming out of Philly, Leiter having a solid 5-6 inning showing is not just a nice-to-have…. it is almost necessary. If he does that, it should set the pen up nicely going into games 2 and 3. We should only have Jalen Beeks, Tyler Alexander and Jakob Junis available out of the pen.
Game 2 · Tuesday · 5:35 PM CST
Jacob deGrom vs. Zach Eflin
deGrom against Baltimore is about as good a matchup as you can draw up for Texas. The Oriolaes as a group are hitting .121/.167/.242 against him…. Utter Dominance. The numbers flat out say that Baltimore hitters have no idea what to do against him. Eflin on the other side comes in with Rangers hitters hitting, .296/.367/.531 against him. Corey Seager is 5-12 with 2 doubles and a homer, Josh Jung is 2-2 with a double and a triple, and Jake Burger is 3-7 with a home run. Texas should have some firepower against Zach. This should be the game Where the rangers can blow it open, especially if deGrom is locked in and his neck is not tight…..smh. Texas should win this game.
Game 3 · Wednesday · 11:35 AM CST
Kumar Rocker vs. Trevor Rogers
This is the most up in the air game of the series. Rocker, similar to Leiter, has never faced this Orioles lineup. Again I feel as if this should benefit Kumar as the lineup will be flying in blind. He looked good in late spring and beat out Latz for the last rotations spot, I am looking for Rocker to use this as a showcase and show us all why he was given this spot.
Rogers comes in with Rangers hitters holding a .250/.321/.474 against him. Andrew McCutchen is 6-12 with a double, a triple, and 3 home runs against him. Brandon Nimmo is 4-16 with 2 doubles. Texas should get to him.
Keys to the Series
Need a solid 5-6 innings out of Leiter on Monday. Need Joc to show something against the two righties Bassit and Eflin. And lastly we need to see Kumar seize his moment and show us that this position in the starting rotation is for him and him alone.
Prediction: Rangers Take 2 of 3
Leiter takes care of business and the hot rangers offense keeps it rolling against Bassitt. deGrom wins Tuesday, that should be the easiest of the three to take. Wednesday is the question mark, but Rocker has the stuff and Baltimore has never seen him. Texas should leave Camden Yards 2-3 with back to back series wins before heading back for the home opener against the Reds.
Shoutout to Andrew McCuthen man, he went 4-9 with 2 doubles a HR and 4 RBIs against the phillies.