Probable Pitchers for 7-23-13 around the MLB

Tough day here at Safety Squeeze.  Why is that?  Trying to pick a pitching match up to highlight for tonight.  Sure, there are some quality pitchers toeing the rubber this evening, but most of them are against far infurior pitchers.  Well, see for yourself...

You see, not much to choose from.  Even the pitchers that are quality aren't that great.  I suppose this is what you get when everyone is on their fifth start after the All-Star break.  But if I have to choose one, I'll go with Jose Fernandez of the Marlins against Jhoulys Chacin of the Rockies.  Now, this game features two teams that are not doing too well in the grand scheme of the National League, but both of these pitchers are notable for different reasons.  Jose Fernandez is expected to be the teams ace...eventually.  He's pitched well this season, especially for a rookie on the worst team in the NL (maybe.)  Jhoulys Chacin is just flat out pitching over his head, but until he proves to me and everyone else that he's coming back to earth, I have to expect he's going to have a quality outing time in and time out.  I think Fernandez will be a solid starter...eventually. Right now he's doing fine, and I'll be curious to see how this one shakes out.  Well, as curious as anyone would be when the Rockies and Marlins get together.  

Okay, that's it for today.  Watch some baseball, eh?

7-22-13 Probable Starters

Probably the biggest story of the past few days in this post-All-Star game period is the potential trade of Matt Garza from the Cubs to anywhere else, which completely fell apart for Texas. The Cubs tried to jump the gun and get something for Garza ten days before they had to, asking teams for their best offers now, presumably in an attempt to get good prospects before they are moved in other deals. It's a logical move, but you can't really hold another team's feet to the fire like you can at 3:58 PM on July 31st, when teams get desperate and show their hands, finally indicating the prospects they're willing to deal. 

Starters for July 22nd (and thank goodness there's so many games on a Monday!)

The best matchup I see is for the two guys who pitched first and second for the AL in the All-Star game, Scherzer vs. Sale at Chicago. The Pale Hose are in the crapper this year and don't have much of a farm system to speak of (Baseball America ranks them 26th) but they aren't interested in trading Sale and I don't blame them - he has too many years of team control and the Sox could easily get back into contention. You also have Tom Gorzelanny making his first start in a while. Matt Garza might get a start in before he gets traded, or he could get the Ubaldo Jimenez treatment (he got traded mid-game after pitching an inning. You would think Cleveland would have re-evaulated after seeing him give up four runs.) He coincidentally is also throwing. Yu Darvish is coming off the DL - you see a lot more players take the DL stint this time of year over working through an injury since the All-Star break keeps a player off the field regardless.  

Don't forget, Big Gorzy is pitching. Enjoy the games today. Too bad there's no day ball!

Probable Starters for MLB 7-21-13! Harvey vs Lee

So what happened here?  I'm allergic to posting in July or something?  I'll tell you what happened, I had my family visiting for the week of the 4th of July and didn't really have the boring downtime to write up the daily pitching matchups of the days.  Then the family left and I felt weird jumping back into it as if nothing happened, and now I'm sitting here wondering what went wrong after that?  I guess it was just an All-Star break.  Not much to write about there, except perhaps a recap, in my own opinion, of the first half of the season.  But I didn't do that either.  Now I'm here, back at the same spot before I had a week or two of posts that were not even that bad for once.  Oh well, let's just jump back into it.

Today there are many pitching match ups that you should be aware of, and some are better than others, as usual.  That's why I highlight one here and call it the Safety Squeeze Pitching Matchup of the Day ™

First off, a screen grab of those match ups from around the league.  (also I think I'll finally admit that matchup is two words starting now.)

For me, I have to choose Cliff Lee against Matt Harvey.  Matt Harvey had a bit of a coming out moment getting to start the All-Star game on Tuesday, which is nice for him.  I mean, he mostly got the nod because he's the home town hero right now, as much as the Mets have as far as heros go.  He's been solid, as many predicted.  Cliff Lee is absolutely no slouch, in fact, I'd say he's at least top five in the world.  Too bad he plays for the Phillies.  And too bad Harver pitches for the Mets, too.  Because I really want to like these guys, but man, I just can't do it too loudly because of the hats they wear.  I pick this one because I really don't know who's going to win this game.  I think the Mets are a better team than the Phillies (seriously) but Cliff Lee is too good to lose to the Mets.  What a quandary.  

Other notable match ups include Doug Fister against "Big Game" James Shields.  Did you know Big Game James gave himself that nickname?  YOU CAN'T DO THAT JIMMY.  It doesn't work that way.  Other people have to call you a name before it becomes a nickname that can be repeated,  

Enjoy baseball today.