The Braves and Mets play game four of their weekend series, the winner pulling ahead of the loser in the NL Wild Card race. Reynaldo Lopez takes on David Peterson. Lopez, with a 2.12 ERA, is a little short on innings to qualify for the ERA title. Seven solid innings would get him on the leaderboard for a few days. Peterson helped stabilize the Mets rotation, going 5-0 in nine starts with a 3.14 ERA. He could help more by starting to go deeper in games.
The Cubs and Royals play the rubber game of their weekend series with Javier Assad facing Cole Ragans. Assad is Mr. No Decision this season, with just a 3-4 record in 18 starts despite a 3.15 ERA. He is averaging just five innings per start, leaving on average half a game for things to change, or not pitching long enough to get a win. Ragans ranks third in lowest HR allowed per 9 IP since the start of the 2023 season.
The Athletics and the Angels finish their four game series as Oakland goes for a sweep. Oakland is 14-7 in July, tied with the Diamondbacks for the best record in the month. Osvaldo Bido faces Jose Soriano. Bido makes his third start of the season after pitching mostly in relief. It looks like he made an emergency start in May in a doubleheader that didn’t go well. His last appearance, however, was a five inning stint against the Astros in which he allowed one run in five innings, walking none and striking out six. Soriano limited hits this season with a .256 opposition BABIP. He also does a decent job of keeping the ball in the park.
Finally, the Yankees and Red Sox play the rubber game of their series at Fenway on Sunday Night Baseball. Youngsters Jarren Duran and Anthony Volpe are at the top of the plate appearance list in the AL. Note that Duran blowing Volpe away in terms of production. He is exactly the kind of player a team wants to get tons of PA. Volpe got off to a good start, but overall he’s been a bit of an out machine, basically flushing opportunities away. Both, however, are extremely good at collecting triples, a rare skill these days. Duran leads the AL in both doubles and triples, no mean feat.
Enjoy!