MLB on Sling TV: Astros at Red Sox, and Twins at Indians on FS1; regional action on Fox Sports Networks
Houston Astros (McHugh 4-3, 5.50) Boston Red Sox (Buchholz 2-3, 5.90) 1:05pm ET on FS1
Colin McHugh is just one of many guys on the Houston Astros who’ve been a disappointment in 2016. After finishing 4th in 2014’s AL Rookie of the Year voting, and then 8th in 2015’s Cy Young balloting, McHugh is giving up 12.6 hits per 9 innings pitched, and seen his ERA jump a run and a half, while his strikeouts continue to fall ever so slightly. But who cares? He’s 4-3! His last start was perhaps his best of the year, as he went 7, allowing just 1 run on 5 hits and a walk, while striking out 5. Also, if you throw out his first start of 2016, against the Yankees, his numbers would look a lot better. On April 6 he retired a single Bomber, while giving up 6 runs on 3 hits, 2 walks and a catcher’s interference – a day like that will leave a stain on the bottom line.
Who keeps putting Clay Buchholz on national television? Americans work too hard to spend their precious time and money watching this guy. It’s bad enough Red Sox fans have to put up with this dude on the regular – though I suppose if you’re an Astros fan, you’re excited to see his name here. On May 4 it appeared he may have gotten it together, giving up just 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks over 7 innings against the White Sox. But five days later against the A’s he remembered he was still Clay Buchholz, getting touched for 4 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks in 5 innings. Come fall, the Red Sox can buy out the final year of his contract for just $500,000 – it’ll be a bargain.
Minnesota Twins (Santana 0-2, 3.86) at Cleveland Indians (Kluber 2-4, 4.14) 4:10pm ET on FS1, FOX Sports North, & SportsTime Ohio
Ervin Santana is the very definition of a league-average pitcher. An average season for him is 11-10, 181 IP, 99 ERA+, 1.3 WHIP, 2.53 SO/BB… just completely middle of the road, and as such probably undervalued. This year has been frustrating, as his first start was cut short by a rain delay; second start he went 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 SO as the Twins fell 4-3; he then went 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, and took the loss in a 3-1 final; and from there, things went south. He went 5 and gave up 5 in a 6-5 loss to Milwaukee. And then came his ugliest, most recent outing, as he got slapped around by the White Sox for 3 ⅓ innings – he was lucky, frankly, to give up just 3 runs given the 10 hits and 3 walks.
Corey Kluber won the Cy Young Award in 2014, going 18-9 with a 2.35 ERA and a5.27 SO/BB ratio. The following year he was 9-16 with a 3.49 ERA. What happened? Not much. In many ways, he was better in 2015, with a higher SO/BB, lower WHIP, but his homers jumped from 14 to 22, and his run support cratered, falling from 4.34 to 3.35. This year, unfortunately, has been more like 2015 than 2014. His run support has tumbled further, to 2.95, and his SO/BB has fallen to a top-ten-in-the-AL 4.5, though his home run rate has moved back to 2014 levels. Dude’s still really good, but he’s got some ugly numbers, a few of which are out of his control.
Here’s the action from the FOX Sports regional networks across the land:
Chicago White Sox (Quintana 5-1, 1.38) at New York Yankees (Nova 1-1, 4.34) 1:05pm ET on YES
Miami Marlins (Nicolino 2-0, 2.79) at Washington Nationals (Roark 2-2, 2.03) 1:05pm ET on FOX Sports Florida
Oakland Athletics (Graveman 1-4, 5.74) at Tampa Bay Rays (Moore 1-3, 4.83) 6:10pm ET on Fox Sports Sun
Cincinnati Reds (Adleman 1-0, 2.45) at Philadelphia Phillies (Nola 2-2, 3.13) 7:05pm ET on FOX Sports Cincinnati
Detroit Tigers (Sanchez 3-3, 5.89) at Baltimore Orioles (Wright 1-3, 5.83) 7:05pm ET on FOX Sports Detroit
Miami Marlins (Fernandez 4-2, 3.54) at Washington Nationals (Cole NA) 7:05pm ET on FOX Sports Florida
San Diego Padres (Cashner 2-3, 4.93) at Milwaukee Brewers (Peralta 2-4, 6.75) 7:10pm ET on FOX Sports San Diego & FOX Sports Wisconsin
Atlanta Braves (Foltynewicz 0-1, 5.06) at Kansas City Royals (Gee 0-0, 2.61) 7:15pm ET on FOX Sports Kansas City & FOX Sports South
Toronto Blue Jays (Estrada 1-2, 2.39) at Texas Rangers (Lewis 2-0, 3.20) 8:05pm ET on FOX Sports Southwest
San Francisco Giants (Peavy 1-4, 8.47) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Corbin 1-3, 4.12) 8:10pm ET on FOX Sports Arizona
Los Angeles Angels (Chacin 1-2, 5.40) at Seattle Mariners (Iwakuma 1-4, 4.19) 9:10pm ET on FOX Sports West
St. Louis Cardinals (Martinez 4-2, 2.61) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Kazmir 2-3, 5.54) 9:10pm ET on FOX Sports Midwest