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Game 14 Preview: Tampa Bay Rays vs Philadelphia Phillies

The two aces face off

Miami Marlins v Philadelphia Phillies Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Starting Pitchers

Chris Archer vs Jake Arrieta

Archer will be making his 4th start of the 2018 season tonight, and thus far, each outing has produced nearly identical lines. He has consistently pitched five to six innings, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits, walking 1 to 3, and striking out 6 to 8. So, that should tell you what to expect tonight.

Jake Arrieta Scouting Report

One of the most top players available this past off-season, it took until spring training for Arrieta to sign a deal. His patience would be rewarded when the Phillies signed him to a 3 year, $75M deal.

Arrieta is coming off a 2017 campaign with the Chicago Cubs in which he finished the season with a 3.53 ERA / 4.16 FIP while he pitched in just 30 games and registered just over 168 innings pitched.

He made his Philadelphia debut on the 8th, with his pitch count being watch, Arrieta threw four innings against the Marlins as he allowed 3 runs — 2 earned — on 3 hits (1 HR), while he walked 2 and struck out 5.

During the 2017 season, lefties fared much better against Arrieta as he held righties to a .266 wOBA against while lefties held a .354 wOBA against him. Meanwhile, as he went through an opposing order, they hit roughly the same against him no matter how many times he faced them, just his command spiked during his third though as his walk percentage doubled.

His repertoire, per Brooks Baseball

In 2018, he has relied primarily on his Sinker (92mph), also mixing in a Curve (79mph) and Cutter (89mph). He also rarely throws a Change (88mph) and Fourseam Fastball (91mph).

His sinker has an obvious tail and results in somewhat more flyballs compared to other pitchers’ sinkers. His curve (take this with a grain of salt because he’s only thrown 11 of them in 2018) has an exceptional bite, results in more flyballs compared to other pitchers’ curves and has primarily 12-6 movement. His cutter (take this with a grain of salt because he’s only thrown 9 of them in 2018) generates an extremely high number of swings & misses compared to other pitchers’ cutters, is an extreme flyball pitch compared to other pitchers’ cutters and has some natural sink. His change (take this with a grain of salt because he’s only thrown 2 of them in 2018) is basically never swung at and missed compared to other pitchers’ changeups, is much firmer than usual, results in more flyballs compared to other pitchers’ changeups and has slight armside fade. His fourseam fastball (take this with a grain of salt because he’s only thrown 1 of them in 2018) is basically never swung at and missed compared to other pitchers’ fourseamers, has an obvious tail, is an extreme flyball pitch compared to other pitchers’ fourseamers, has slightly below average velo and has some added backspin.

Pitch Usage

Starting Lineups

To be posted when available