The Boston Red Sox have been playing great baseball. They sit atop the wildcard standings and are making a push on the Yankees in the AL East. The Houston Astros, meanwhile, have scuffled a bit lately, but they still hold the best record in baseball. Even with a depleted rotation, they should provide a challenge for the BoSox, particularly down in Houston.
This series will be contested from Friday, June 16, 2017 through Sunday, June 18, 2017 at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Saturday's clash is being shown live on FOX while the games on Sunday will be on ESPN.
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Pitching Matchups
Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers, Charlie Morton and Collin McHugh are all on the disabled list, leaving the cupboard bear for the Astros.
Over the weekend, the makeshift rotation will feature Mike Fiers, David Paulino and Joe Musgrove. The Red Sox will counter with Drew Pomeranz, Rick Porcello and David Price.
Unless you count Brad Peacock, Fiers is the de facto ace until the rest of the rotation gets healthy and he was on the ropes in Spring Training, having to earn a rotation spot.
He’s been a serviceable back-end start this year by the numbers. He’s 4-2 which is good, but his 4.29 ERA and 1.400 WHIP are a bit high. Worse than that, however, the peripherals have been awful. His BABIP against has been artificially low and he’s pitching to a 6.10 FIP. His biggest issue has been the long ball. He’s already allowed 18 home runs in 65 innings.
Boston hasn’t been a big home run hitting team in 2017, but they certainly have guys that can hit it out.
Pomeranz will hope his teammates can take advantage of the matchup and give him some run support. He’s 6-4 with a 4.48 ERA, but his FIP is actually below four and his homers are a bit more under control. He’s coming off a bad start, allowing six runs in 4.1 innings and doesn’t have a tendency to go deep in the games, though the Sox’s strong bullpen helps cover the last four innings.
Moving to Saturday, Boston will hope this is finally when Porcello gets back to his Cy Young form.
He’s been more like the pitcher than struggled in 2015 than the one that thrived in 2016. He’s coming off a five-run outing against the Phillies of all teams and his ERA is now up to 4.67. He leads the league in hits allowed and losses. He’s 3-8.
On the other side, Paulino gets another chance to make an impression. He’s made three starts in the majors and has a 6.59 ERA. He’s gone only 13.2 innings, allowing 19 hits and 10 runs. He only had three mediocre starts at Triple-A before getting the promotion out of desperation. He’s young and talented, but also still an unfinished product.
The series wraps up on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.
Musgrove has allowed just two runs in his last 13.2 innings, giving up nine hits and one walk. He’s actually allowed two or fewer runs in four of his last five starts. That said, his last start was a loss against Texas were he didn’t make it out of the fifth.
Flipping it to the Sox’s starter, Price is still bouncing back from injury. He’s 1-1 with a 5.09 ERA in his first four starts. He’s now dealing with a blister so he may or may not make the start.
Betting Trends
The Astros are still the cream of crop in the Majors. They’re leading baseball in wins and are the current team to beat with the Indians and Cubs sitting around .500. The Yankees and Dodgers are close, but neither have the complete team of Houston.
The Astros, however, are not infallible. They’ve struggled lately with so many starters on the disabled list. They’ve dropped six of their last nine games including series losses to the Royals, Angels and Rangers. None of those teams are as good as the Sox who are playing well right now.
Boston comes into the series after a successful home-and-home series against the Phillies and a series win over the Tigers just before that.
Names to Remember
With Josh Reddick on the DL and Carlos Beltran struggling, the Astros called up 23-year old Derek Fisher who proceeded to hit a home run in his first game.
Fisher is just the next in a long line of talented young players the Astros have turned to over the last few years.
He was a fringe top-100 prospect coming into the season and ranks third in most lists of Houston prospects, but he made an immediate impact. He’s been swinging a hot bat at Triple-A Fresno, too. In 60 games, Fisher was batting .335 with a 1.010 OPS. That included slamming 16 long balls and 19 doubles. He’s got power. He also stole 13 bases, but was caught 10 times so there’s some speed there, too, but his base runner can still use work.
Another name to remember is Joe Kelly for the Red Sox. The failed starter has really harnessed his 102 mph fastball in the pen. Able to go all out each pitch, Kelly has become a key set up man for Craig Kimbrel, pitching to a 1.27 ERA in 28.1 innings.
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