Red Sox v.s. Rays Series Preview Part ONE!!!!! (Pitcher against Pitcher)

On the March 29, MLB fans everywhere will unite on this national holiday to cheer on their favorite teams! The crowds will gather, the beer will flow, the food will be served and the sports mode on the lucky few with smart tv's will be turned on nationwide! This exciting event will be fantastic, but it will be even better if you're a Red Sox fan. Why you may ask? Well let us find out....

Game 1:

For the Red Sox, with a career record of 91 wins and 58 losses and an ERA of 2.98, first up on the mound will be the Stickman Chris Sale. Debuting in 2010, Chris Sale is the man when it comes to throwing a baseball. During his career he has struck out 1552 batters, which if you look at his stats closely, is the largest number in the entire rack. He has allowed 1087 hits and only 471 were runs and 431 of which were earned. He has walked 303 people and has allowed 137 home runs. He has hit 71 batsmen and intentionally walked 14. All of this happened in 260 games, 180 of which he started and involving 1324.1 innings. This man has seen many batters since his debut in 2010 and the majority has hung there head in shame as they watched the third strike fly past them faster than the realization of being next in a very long growing line of victims at the hand of Chris Sale.

For the Rays, with a career record of 51 wins and 63 losses and an ERA 3.63, at the bottom of the first we will be seeing Chris Archer. Debuting in 2012, he may have the same name, but this guys stats aren't even in the same ballpark (pun intended) as Sale. In 162 games (967 innings pitched), 160 of which were started, he has amassed 858 hits 437 of which became runs and 390 were earned. 106 home runs have been hit off him, he has walked 316, intentionally walked 3, and hit 28. His strike out count totals to 1044. All of which he has attained since his debut in 2012.

The obvious difference between these two is the two years Sale has over Archer and Archer's inability to keep batters away from the ball. In Archer's 354.1 less innings, he has almost matched Sale in both runs and runs earned, his win-loss record is abysmal, the home runs are catching up, and all in all he is quickly flying past Sale in all of the wrong ways. With these two pitchers going up against each other, the Red Sox should not have a problem with keeping the Rays off the board and adding some points on themselves. Through 4-6 innings, the Red Sox should dominate the field with Sale at the helm.

Game 2:

Next on the mound will be David Price. Ever since his debut in 2008 he has a beautiful record of 127 wins and 68 losses keeping an ERA of 3.22. He has played 269 games, starting 259 consisting of 1746.1 innings. In those innings he has collected 1553 hits, 687 of which became runs where 625 of those were earned. 167 people have hit home runs off him and he has walked 445, intentionally walked 12, and hit 46. His strikeout counts amount to 1676. David Price is no laughing matter when it comes to pitching. With stats like that he has shown time and again that he knows how to dominate the mound and keep the opposing team at bay. In this case he can keep them at Tampa Bay. Haha, get it?

Next up we will see Blake Snell. Snell debuted in 2016 and has a record of 11 wins and 15 losses and an ERA of 3.83. He has started as many games as he has played which is 43 (218.1 innings). He has 206 hits, 109 of which were runs and 93 earned. He has allowed 20 home runs and has walked 110. He has struck out 217 so he does not bring a lot to the plate. A new pitcher with two losing years and hardly impressive stats going up against a monster like Price is just shameful.

I think it is clear to see from the defensive side of the field where the game will stand. Do I even have to put in the next two game's pitcher stats? I mean, I know I do...but I have a feeling that our first two from Boston compared to the first two of Tampa Bay tells the story itself.

Game 3:

On day 3 we will see Rick Porcello stepping up to take on the opposing Rays. Porcello debuted in 2009 and holds a career record of 118 wins and 99 losses with an overall ERA of 4.25. A little below average, but that doesn't stop him from controlling the game. He has pitched 278 games starting 274 (1671.2 innings). During these games he has had 1821 hits with 870 runs, 790 of which were earned. Only 191 batters have hit a homerun off him, he has walked 381, intentionally walked 15, and hit 60. His strikeout count totals 1174. These stats are not too shabby with his high ERA so I believe he will hold his on when he gets to the mound. This may be a closer game considering his ending ERA during Spring Training being 4.50, but that was through 4 games. I believe in Rick Porcello's ability to go 4-6 innings without letting the opposing team rack up too many points.

Tampa Bay hasn't determined a pitcher for game 3 quite yet, but if a guess had to be made, it will be Jacob Faria. Faria debuted in 2017 and has a career record of 5 wins and 4 losses, which makes him the only pitcher for Tampa Bay with a winning record, and an AVG of .225. Honestly, if he does pitch, I would prefer him for game 4 against Hector Velazquez because they both debuted in the same year and have practically the same amount of time spent on the mound. Faria has 16 games where Velazquez has 8, but all things considered, I would prefer to see them go up against each other rather than what it is. Anyways, I digress, Faria has 16 games under his belt with 14 starts (86.2 innings). 71 batters has hit off him of which consisted of 35 runs, 33 of which have been earned and 11 hits have been home runs. He has walked 31, none intentional, and has hit 5 batsmen. His strike out count stands at 84 victims which makes him quite the pitcher as new as he is. This man will be defending his honor against Rick Porcello and I think he has a lot to worry about considering he is still practically new to the game where Porcello is prepared in every way to shut the other team down.

I think game 3 of this series will be a tight game if our fielders can keep errors down and our offense can get on base. This game will be very reliant between both defense and offense to do their job. Out of the first three games, this will likely be the most exciting to watch considering Porcello's high ERA which means we will start to see Tampa Bay hitting more and will cause our fielders to get to work. Faria maybe new, but his stats aren't a laughing matter and I think that will show during this game. There are some people who do not like tight games, but I am one who wants to see a heart-stopping, gut-wrenching game that goes all the way down to the bottom of the 9th and I am thinking this is the game that will do it.

Game 4:

For the final game of the series, Hector Velazquez will be leading the troops into 9 innings of slaughter. Velazquez debuted in 2017 and has a career record of 3 wins and 1 loss with an ERA of 2.92. Velazquez has not done a lot of work on the mound only pitching 8 games, starting 3, which is only 24.2 innings. During these innings there have been 21 hits, 8 of which were runs, all earned. 4 batters have hit home runs off him and he has walked 7, none intentionally, and no hit batsmen. In his 8 games he has struck out 19 batters. It is difficult to say how Velazquez will do considering he hasn't been in many games, but he is off to a good start with an ERA as low as it is after so few games. He will be facing off against a veteran, but as long as he keeps up with what he has been doing in the past, he should be fine. This will definitely be a season to keep eyes on Hector because this will be either his chance to prove himself as a pitcher for a monumental team such as the Red Sox, or prove otherwise and be released. I personally think Hector will make an impact as the new pitcher on the mound and will surprise all of us, so let us put our beers together and make a welcome toast to Hector's first game of the season.

The starting pitcher for the Rays will be Nathan Eovaldi. Eovaldi debuted in 2011 and holds a career record of 38 wins and 46 losses with a total ERA of 4.21. He has pitched 134 games, starting 127 (739 innings). 782 people have hit off him and 362 have scored, 346 earned runs and 66 being homeruns. He has walked 239 batters, intentionally walking 13, and hit 17. He has a grand total of 539 strikeouts which means he will be fierce competition for Velazquez.

This game will most likely be for the batters to prove themselves and the fielders to earn their win. Every game is an earned win, but there may be quite a bit more work for each player to attend to. I think we can all agree that there is comfort room when pitchers like Chris Sale and David Price are on the mound, but there is not very much comfort when you have a newer pitcher and a pitcher with a high ERA stepping up. Out of the 4 games, I believe games 3 and 4 will be the more intense games to watch while the first two will more than likely be taken care of. Of course, all this is viewed on pitchers, but lets see if the batting lineup for the Red Sox proves me otherwise.

Check out Part 2 for how the batting lineup compares to the Tampa Bay Rays

"This is the place to be"

All stats come from MLB.com, rotowire.com, espn.com, and baseball-reference.com

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