Oakland Has 'A' Game Ready For Series Finale Against Minnesota
Minnesota (54-31) at Oakland (47-40)
When: 4:07 p.m. ET
MLB Pick: Athletics First-Five RL
Based on his ERA, Minnesota's Jose Berrios (8-4, 2.89 ERA) looks like he has improved. But his FIP (like ERA, but factors out fielding) is close to what it was last year. This year, he's also been weaker on the road, where is ERA and FIP are both over one point higher than at home.
Berrios relies on a sinker, fastball, and curveball with between 23 and 31 percent frequency. His other pitch is a change-up that he uses mostly against left-handed batters and which is his most effective pitch based on opposing BA.
A characteristic feature of Berrios' arsenal is the arm-side motion of three of his pitches. This feature means that most of his stuff runs toward right-handed batters, who don't have to worry about reaching over the plate to hit his stuff. The one exception is his curveball, which he features against right-handed batters partly because it moves away from them.
Right-handed batters have an easier time against Berrios because of his stuff's arm-side motion. They are batting .249 and slugging .406 against him, whereas lefties hit .222 and slug .358 against him. Berrios also yields a 3.96 FIP against righties, compared to 3.42 against lefties. Righties also don't have to deal so much with Berrios' change-up.
It's important to note Berrios' relative weakness against right-handed batters because Oakland's lineup is righty-heavy. Its best hitters-- like Matt Chapman, who leads the team in slugging, and Khris Davis, bat from the right side of the plate. Also watch out for Ramon Laureano, who is 5-for-11 (.454) with two doubles and a homer in his past three games. The A's furthermore match up well with Berrios because they rank sixth in slugging against his three favorite pitches from righties combined.
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Oakland's Tanner Anderson (0-3, 7.13 ERA) may seem unworthy to back. But his ERA is so high because he's only had four starts and he got slammed in his last outing in Los Angeles. In each of his first two starts, he allowed two runs in over five innings. So it's evident that he's a capable starter.
Anderson relies primarily on his sinker. He throws it 62% of the time and can execute it well. His first two opponents hit .154 and .118 against it, respectively. His sinker is effective with its strong arm-side motion. He keeps it away from the middle of the plate and concentrates its location along the borders of the zone, although it often tails out of the zone. Because of its elusive movement and precise location, it's one of his favorite ground-ball inducing pitches.
Tailing out of the zone is the most common activity of Anderson's pitches. He keeps only 38 percent of his pitches inside the zone and induces contact against pitches that would have been balls with 71 percent frequency. These characteristics are important because the Twins rank 26th in percentage of swings against would-be balls. Minnesota batters can't be trusted to avoid chasing Anderson's balls, which means that they will make a lot of soft contact.
The Twins also match up poorly against Anderson because they rank in the bottom-half in slugging against the sinker from righties. Moreover, Anderson is very much a ground ball pitcher because he induces grounders 58 percent of the time thanks especially to his sinker. Minnesota, though, is worst against ground ball pitchers, batting .220 against them.
Minnesota (54-31) at Oakland (47-40)
When: 4:07 p.m. ET
MLB Pick: Athletics First-Five RL
Based on his ERA, Minnesota's Jose Berrios (8-4, 2.89 ERA) looks like he has improved. But his FIP (like ERA, but factors out fielding) is close to what it was last year. This year, he's also been weaker on the road, where is ERA and FIP are both over one point higher than at home.
Berrios relies on a sinker, fastball, and curveball with between 23 and 31 percent frequency. His other pitch is a change-up that he uses mostly against left-handed batters and which is his most effective pitch based on opposing BA.
A characteristic feature of Berrios' arsenal is the arm-side motion of three of his pitches. This feature means that most of his stuff runs toward right-handed batters, who don't have to worry about reaching over the plate to hit his stuff. The one exception is his curveball, which he features against right-handed batters partly because it moves away from them.
Right-handed batters have an easier time against Berrios because of his stuff's arm-side motion. They are batting .249 and slugging .406 against him, whereas lefties hit .222 and slug .358 against him. Berrios also yields a 3.96 FIP against righties, compared to 3.42 against lefties. Righties also don't have to deal so much with Berrios' change-up.
It's important to note Berrios' relative weakness against right-handed batters because Oakland's lineup is righty-heavy. Its best hitters-- like Matt Chapman, who leads the team in slugging, and Khris Davis, bat from the right side of the plate. Also watch out for Ramon Laureano, who is 5-for-11 (.454) with two doubles and a homer in his past three games. The A's furthermore match up well with Berrios because they rank sixth in slugging against his three favorite pitches from righties combined.
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Oakland's Tanner Anderson (0-3, 7.13 ERA) may seem unworthy to back. But his ERA is so high because he's only had four starts and he got slammed in his last outing in Los Angeles. In each of his first two starts, he allowed two runs in over five innings. So it's evident that he's a capable starter.
Anderson relies primarily on his sinker. He throws it 62% of the time and can execute it well. His first two opponents hit .154 and .118 against it, respectively. His sinker is effective with its strong arm-side motion. He keeps it away from the middle of the plate and concentrates its location along the borders of the zone, although it often tails out of the zone. Because of its elusive movement and precise location, it's one of his favorite ground-ball inducing pitches.
Tailing out of the zone is the most common activity of Anderson's pitches. He keeps only 38 percent of his pitches inside the zone and induces contact against pitches that would have been balls with 71 percent frequency. These characteristics are important because the Twins rank 26th in percentage of swings against would-be balls. Minnesota batters can't be trusted to avoid chasing Anderson's balls, which means that they will make a lot of soft contact.
The Twins also match up poorly against Anderson because they rank in the bottom-half in slugging against the sinker from righties. Moreover, Anderson is very much a ground ball pitcher because he induces grounders 58 percent of the time thanks especially to his sinker. Minnesota, though, is worst against ground ball pitchers, batting .220 against them.
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