From the Offices of Stats Perform: Yankees Hope to End Early Season Stumble
For Series Beginning Tuesday, April 20, 2021
For a look at the Astros at the Rockies click:
BRAVES (7-9) at YANKEES (5-10)
Ø The last time these teams met, the Braves swept a two-game series by scores of 5-1 and 2-1, after the Yankees had won 13 of the previous 16 games in the series.
Ø At 5-10, the Yankees are off to their worst 15-game start since 1997 (5-10) and before that, 1972 (also 5-10). The last time the Yankees started a season 5-11 was in 1972.
Ø The Braves have hit 25 home runs, tied with the Cardinals for the highest total in the major leagues.
Ø Ronald Acuna Jr. has scored a run in each of his last 10 games, the longest run-scoring streak in the major leagues this season.
Ø Giancarlo Stanton has 12 RBIs, tying his second most in his team’s first 15 games of a season. He also had 12 RBIs in 2015, and had 21 at this point in 2014, both for the Marlins.
Ø Jameson Taillon defeated the Braves in his only previous start against them, for Pittsburgh on August 31, 2018. He allowed two runs in that game, on solo homers by Acuna and Johan Camargo. Charlie Morton has lost only one of his last 10 starts against the Yankees in the regular season or postseason.
WHITE SOX (8-9) at INDIANS (8-7)
Ø The White Sox and Cleveland alternated wins over a four-game series in Chicago earlier this season. In 2020, Cleveland won six of seven home games against Chicago. The White Sox had the lead or were tied in the fifth inning or later and lost each of their last four games in Cleveland last season.
Ø The White Sox split a four-game set with the Red Sox in Boston. Chicago is tied for the fifth-best run differential in MLB despite having a losing record. The White Sox are 6-0 in games with 10+ hits this season and 2-9 in games with fewer than 10 hits.
Ø Cleveland lost two of three games against the Reds in Cincinnati; the Indians are 4-1 at home and 4-6 on the road this season. The Cleveland pitching staff has allowed a .157 batting average in its five home games, second lowest in MLB behind the White Sox (.155).
Ø Carlos Rodon threw a no-hitter against Cleveland in his last start. Rodon has not allowed a run over 14.0 innings in two starts this season, both wins. That is the longest scoreless innings streak to start a season by a White Sox starting pitcher since Jose DeLeon in 1987 (14.1; innings pitched in starts only).
Ø Tim Anderson was 7-for-13 over three games in Boston with three hits in each of his last two games. Anderson has 11 games with three or more hits since the beginning of 2020, tied with Trea Turner for the most such games in MLB.
Ø Jordan Luplow hit two home runs against the Reds in just six plate appearances. For the season, Luplow is hitting a home run every 8.0 plate appearances, tied for the second-best mark in MLB behind Minnesota’s Byron Buxton (7.2; minimum 25 plate appearances).
ORIOLES (7-9) at MARLINS (7-8)
Ø The Marlins are 26-8 (.765) all-time against the Orioles. That’s the highest winning percentage by a team with at least 20 interleague games against one opponent.
Ø The Orioles have allowed no more than two runs in any of their last four games, although they are only 2-2 in those games. That’s the Orioles’ longest streak allowing two or fewer runs since a four-game streak in April 2017; their last longer streak was five games in April/May 2012.
Ø The Marlins have hit 11 home runs, the second lowest total in the major leagues, ahead of only the Mets (6).
Ø Jazz Chisolm has hit safely in seven straight games, one shy of the longest hitting streak by a rookie this season (eight games by Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena).
Ø Cedric Mullins is hitting .455 (15-for-33) the first time he faces a pitcher in a game this season, but only .241 (7-for-29) in all subsequent at-bats against the pitcher in that game.
Ø Matt Harvey went 25-18 with a 2.53 ERA from 2012 to 2015, the second-lowest ERA among pitchers with 400+ innings over that span, behind Clayton Kershaw (2.07). Since 2016, Harvey is 19-35 with a 5.79 ERA, the highest among pitchers with 400 innings pitched. Nick Neidert has had more walks than strikeouts in both of his starts this season and hasn’t lasted five innings in either game.
DIAMONDBACKS (6-10) at REDS (9-6)
Ø The Diamondbacks and Reds played a three-game set in Arizona earlier this season with the D-Backs winning two of three games and outscoring the Reds by 11 runs. Arizona’s batters took 19 walks in the series, 13 more than the six walks taken by Cincinnati’s hitters.
Ø The Diamondbacks split a four-game series with the Nationals in Washington over the weekend. Arizona hit eight home runs over the four games, tied for the second most by any road team in a series this season.
Ø The Reds took two of three games from Cleveland at home. Cincinnati is 7-2 at home to start the season, winning all three series. Cincinnati has won six straight home series dating back to last season, tied with the Royals for the longest such active streak in MLB.
Ø Eduardo Escobar hit two home runs against Washington. Escobar’s six home runs this season are tied for second most in MLB with four other players, including Cincinnati’s Tyler Naquin. Escobar had one home run in each of the three games against the Reds earlier this season.
Ø Zac Gallen has struck out at least five batters in each his last 19 appearances, the third-longest active such streak in the MLB behind Lance Lynn (23) and Trevor Bauer (20). Gallen fanned eight in 4.0 innings against Oakland in his only outing this season.
Ø Luis Castillo is 2-4 with a 4.25 ERA in six career starts against Arizona despite allowing an opponent batting average of .176. That is the fifth-lowest mark by any active pitcher against the Diamondbacks (minimum 100 batters faced).
PIRATES (7-9) at TIGERS (6-10)
Ø The Tigers swept the three-game series these teams played last August. The only other season in which Detroit swept a season series from Pittsburgh was 2010 (3-0).
Ø The Pirates had a six-game losing streak from April 3-8, but they have not lost consecutive games since then and have gone 6-3 since April 10.
Ø The Tigers have 50 more strikeouts than hits this season (161 to 111), the fifth-worst differential in the majors.
Ø Phillip Evans has hit three home runs in 51 at-bats this season, after he hit only one home in 93 at-bats over his first three major-league seasons.
Ø Through April 13, Wilson Ramos and Akil Baddoo had combined for 10 home runs and 17 RBI (Ramos: 6 HR, 7 RBIs; Baddoo: 4 HR, 10 RBIs). Since April 14, they are a combined 4-for-34 without a home run and with one RBI (by Baddoo).
Ø Right-handed batters have three home runs and a .605 slugging percentage against Tyler Anderson this season; lefties are homerless and are slugging .292 against him. Michael Fulmer won his last start, ending a 20-start winless streak, which was the longest in Tigers history.
BLUE JAYS (7-9) at RED SOX (11-6)
Ø These teams split 10 games last season, but the Blue Jays have not won a season series from the Red Sox since 2016. From 2017 to 2019, Boston went 39-18 against Toronto.
Ø The Red Sox are the only major-league that is undefeated when scoring first this season (6-0).
Ø The Blue Jays were held to two hits on Sunday and didn’t have an extra-base hit in a game for the first time this season.
Ø J.D. Martinez reached 20 RBIs last night in Boston’s 17th game of the season. That’s the fewest games it has taken a Red Sox player to reach 20 RBIs since Mike Lowell got there in 17 games in 2009.
Ø Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. are the only pair of major league teammates age 23 or younger with four or more home runs apiece this season.
Ø Hyun-Jin Ryu has a 2.28 ERA over the last four seasons, second lowest among pitchers who have thrown 300+ innings since 2018, behind Jacob deGrom (2.03); no one else is below 2.50. Eduardo Rodriguez has allowed five home runs in 11.1 innings over his last two starts against Toronto.
METS (7-4) at CUBS (6-9)
Ø The Cubs won the last four meetings between the clubs a season ago, after the Mets had taken two of the first three. Since September 2017, the North Siders have won 14 of 17 games in the series.
Ø The Mets lead the NL East at 7-4 despite having an even run differential (37 runs scored, 37 allowed). Their staff ERA of 2.92 is the fifth lowest in MLB.
Ø At .192, the Cubs are the only team hitting below .200 in 2021. Chicago scored 13 runs in Saturday’s win over Atlanta, and a total of 38 (2.71 per game) in its 14 other contests.
Ø Jeff McNeil has a career .577 batting average against Jake Arrieta (15-for-26). Among current NL players, that’s the highest batting average in any matchup with a minimum of 25 plate appearances.
Ø Kris Bryant has four doubles and five homers among his 13 hits in 2021. He needs one extra-base hit to match his 2020 total of 10 (he played only 14 games last season).
Ø Taijuan Walker seeks his first win as a National League pitcher since September 6, 2017, when he won at Dodger Stadium as a member of the Diamondbacks. Walker won three consecutive starts culminating with that game, but failed to win in eight subsequent starts for Arizona between 2017 and ’19.
TWINS (6-8) at ATHLETICS (9-7)
Ø The clubs did not meet last season, but in a series that dates back to 1901, only two wins separates the two: 1,012 wins for the A’s to 1,010 for the Twins’ franchise. Minnesota has not won a season series from Oakland since 2015.
Ø The series opener was pushed back from Monday to Tuesday after the Twins’ games at the LA Angels on Saturday and Sunday were postponed by COVID-19 concerns. The Twins have dropped six of seven after a 5-2 start and won only once in the past 11 days entering the twinbill.
Ø After a 1-7 start, Oakland has won eight games in a row, scoring a total of 50 runs and slugging 16 homers (at least one in each game). The A’s went deep only three times in their first eight contests.
Ø Byron Buxton has not played in a week; his .469 batting average is the highest in MLB among players with at least 25 plate appearances. Buxton has hit safely in all nine games he has played.
Ø Jed Lowrie is hitting .333 and looks to finish April with a mark of .300 or better for the fourth time in five seasons since 2015 (he did not play in April in 2019 or 2020). He has not faced the Twins since 2018.
Ø Two starts after earning his 50th career victory, Jose Berrios allowed four earned runs in 4.1 innings in a loss to Boston on Wednesday. Sean Manaea notched his 40th victory in his last outing, winning at home over the Tigers, 8-4.