There is one pitching match-up on Sunday and blows all the other games out of the water. Chris Sale leads the Red Sox against Ervin Santana and the Twins. Santana and Sale rank first and third in the majors respectively in ERA. I’ve upped the innings limit so they are one and two for an easy comparison.
Sale actually far exceeds Santana in terms of three-true outcomes. Sale strikes out batters at a rate of 12.42 per 9 IP, which Santana posts an okay mark of 7.24 K per 9 IP. Sale walks just 1.58 batters per nine innings. Santana is very good, 2.85 BB per 9 IP. Neither pitcher gives up HR, but Sale is slightly better at .39 HR per 9 IP, .44 per 9 IP for Santana. Sale pitcher 4 2/3 innings more.
If you look at the leaders in FIP, pitching independent of fielding, Sale leads the majors at 1.44, while Santana ranks 10th at 3.01.
Santana is not just getting help from his fielders. Two things indicate that batters are unable to make good contact with his pitches. His line drive rate is lower than usual, and while he’s giving up fly balls, his HR rate on those fly balls are way down. It looks like batters are getting under his pitches, leading to easy to catch fly balls, as his infield fly percentage is up as well. He might be throwing his four-seam fastball better? Possibly more over the top?
Sale’s LD, GB, and FB percentages are right in line with his career norms, but he is getting more pop ups and fewer home runs on his fly balls as well. He does seem to be throwing a lot more four-seam fastballs this season.
Enjoy!
from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2pPIcvR
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