Josh Beckett likely wonât be traded today and has an ERA over 6 over his last three vs. the Tigers. He has not been much better at home, during night starts, or in July. Posting 4.55, 5.27, and 6.38 ERAâs under those situations. 4 players have OPS over 1.000 against him and we are not even talking about Miguel Cabrera who has a .819 OPS and Delmon Young who has a .881 which still are great OPS numbers. Prince Fielder alone is 4-8 with 3 HR. Beckett has just a 66.2 LOB% which is not likely to change against the Tigers who are #1 in average with runners on, #2 with RISP, and 3rd with RISP & 2 outs.
Boston on the other hand claim the same success vs. Justin Verlander who has been much better at home, but in 235 AB the Sox have just a .580 OPS. The numbers get drastically better when you take David Ortiz out of the line up. Ortiz has a 1.157 OPS against Verlander and as we know is still on the DL. This is a large hole that will allow Verlander to continue his success of quality starts after a non quality start. In his last outing he gave up 5 ER to Cleveland. Heâs had 4 non quality starts this year and had 5 a year ago and in those 9 starts combined he posts a 1.28 ERA following a non quality start. He goes up against a Red Sox offense that has not been the same this month posting a .713 OPS good for 19th in the month while the Tigers are 5th with a .782 OPS. The Red Sox are 3-7 in their last 10 home GS vs. RH starter and 4-10 in their last 14 as a dog. While the Tigers are 44-17 in Verlanders last 61 starts following a team loss in previous game.
The White Sox have gotten to Nick Blackburn. That would be putting it mildly as he posts an 11.05 ERA over his last 3. That includes a 4.1 IP and 8 ER performance in his last start. Francisco Liriano makes his debut with the White Sox against his old team. That should make things more comfortable for him. Liriano has a 9.81 K/9 ratio this season despite an ERA over 5 his xFIP is 3.96. Heâs pitched much better of late with the exception of 7 ER in his last start. His previous 10 starts before that he posted a 2.65 ERA over 68 innings. I think he has a major advantage and not pitching since 7/23 will make him fresh and motivated. Blackburn is 9-26 in his last 35 on 5 days rest and heâs backed by a bullpen that has a 5.91 ERA over the last 10 games.
