Red Sox Travel to Texas

Venue: Ballpark at Arlington

Opponent: Texas Rangers

Record: 47-26, 1st place in AL West and best record in the American League

Recent Results: 16-5 in June, beating everyone right now

Run Differential: +39, 4th in AL

Team ERA: 3.96, 5th in AL 

Runs Per Game: 4.77, 6th in AL

Players to Watch:

OF Ian Desmond joined the Rangers from the Washington Nationals in the offseason, switching leagues and moving to the outfield in the process. He has been loving the AL so far, leading the Rangers with a .316 average while playing in 72 of the Rangers 73 games. He has also tacked on 12 HR, 47 RBI, and 12 steals, so he is really doing it all in his new digs.

2B Rougned Odor is basically the Rangers version of Dustin Pedroia, a scrappy middle infielder who hustles his ass off and contributes in all kinds of ways. He is hitting .291 over the last month, and leads the Rangers with 13 HR on the season. However, I mostly included Odor for two reasons: first, because he punched the shit out of Jose Bautista earlier this year, and secondly, because Rougned Odor has a younger brother in the Rangers minor league system, who is named.... Rougned Odor. Yes you read that right. 

3B Adrian Beltre has been in the majors since 1998, when he was 19 years old, and he is a borderline Hall of Famer. Red Sox fans will remember his brief stint in Boston, when he made the All Star team and led the league in doubles in 2010. His offensive production has been dwindling over the last three seasons as he enters his late 30s, but he is still a power threat (10 HR on the year) and an excellent defender at the hot corner. My favorite thing about him though is that he famously HATES it when people touch his head. I am 99% sure Hanley Ramirez is going to fuck with him if he makes it to first base this series, and I cannot wait. 

Pitching Matchups

Game 1 (Friday, 8:10 EST): David Price vs. Nick Martinez

     David Price looks to continue his string of strong performances in this one. He has pitched at least into the seventh inning in every start since May 7th, and has not given up more than 3 runs in any of those games. He has run into a string of bad luck in June, losing 3 of 4 starts despite pitching well. Last time out, he dominated the Seattle Mariners, giving up just 1 run in 8 innings while strinking out 7 against a very good offense. 

     Nick Martinez is making just his second start of the season, looking to improve on a 4.1 IP, 3 ER effort last time out against the Cardinals. Normally, this would be Yu Darvish's spot in the rotation, so the Sox definitely caught a break facing Martinez instead. Nick does have some experience, having been a part of the Rangers rotation for good chunks of both 2014 and 2015, but a 4.30 career ERA says that he is nothing special. He throws 5 pitches (fastball, two-seam, slider, curve, changeup) but none of them are great. He has average velocity on his fastballs (91MPH), and mixes the velocities of his offspeed offerings effectively, but he will need to rely on location to get the Red Sox out. I think Boston wins this one easily. 

Game 2 (Saturday, 9:20 EST): Steven Wright vs. AJ Griffin

    Steven Wright looks to continue his dominance of the American League in this late night game. He has been a delightful surprise all season long, and now that Christian Vasquez has proven his ability to actually get a glove on the knuckleball, the opposition's chances to score via the passed ball have been dramatically reduced. While Wright still overwhelmingly relies on his knuckler, he has been using his fastball more often in his last couple starts, particularly when his behind in the count. We'll see if he can continue getting away with that, or if the Rangers can jump on a couple batting practice straight pitches.

     AJ Griffin is making his first start off the Disabled List in this game, where he has been shelved since leaving the mound with shoulder soreness in the 3rd inning of a game on May 7th. He has pitched very well when healthy this year, with a 2.94 ERA, but its tough to know what to expect from a guy with that vague of an injury in his pitching arm. If he is healthy, expect to see a guy with mediocre velocity but excellent control and funky offspeed stuff. Though he only throws around 88 MPH, he is still effective. His slider can be devastating at times, and he uses a very funky curveball that averages only 66 MPH (!), which is unlike just about any other pitch in the game today. He could be problematic for the Sox, but I am confident that Wright will get the better of him in another Red Sox win.  

Game 3 (Sunday, 3:05 EST): Clay Buccholz vs. Martin Perez

     Clay Buccholz did enough in his start against the White Sox to earn another turn in the rotation, although I am not at all confident in his production moving forwards. He went just 5 innings against Chicago, while allowing 3 runs and 2 HR. The long ball has been his biggest issue this season, and TExas has hit 90 of them in 73 games so far. If he can keep Boston in the game, I will be happy, but Id honestly rather see someone else in this spot. Im not sure who that might be, but I know what Im getting from Clay at this point and I don't like it.
     Martin Perez has been a solid if unspectacular performer for the Rangers since joining the rotation full time this season. He has gotten an occasional start here or there since 2012, but this is the first time he has been a constant presence in the rotation. He has a 3.57 ERA this year, and Texas has won each of the last 6 games he has started. He features above average velocity, averaging 93 MPH with the fastball. In terms of offspeed stuff, he has the most confidence in his changeup, which has decent downward action and takes about 10 MPH off of his fastball. He also has a curveball and a slider, but he mostly uses them when he is ahead in the count, and if the Sox are seeing a lot of them then they are probably not hitting Perez very well. This game is a bit of a toss up, so Im going to have to go with the red hot home team, and give the Rangers the nod here.