Detroit at Kansas City: Tigers look to keep up their winning ways blessyouboys.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from blessyouboys.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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The Detroit Tigers have inexplicably won four games in a row after a three-week exercise of ultimate futility, taking a game from the Minnesota Twins before sweeping its home series with the Kansas City Royals this week. Now, the team gets back to interleague play as it hosts the Chicago Cubs this weekend for a three-game series between a pair of teams who rarely meet up on the diamond.
The recent winning ways helped the Motor City Kitties nearly crawl out from the American League Central cellar as they enter Friday night’s tilt tied with the Minnesota Twins for last, though Detroit has played two fewer games. On the other side, the Cubs currently sit fourth in the National League Central standings, though they have been heading in the opposite direction as the Tigers, losing their last three including a two-game midweek sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Indians.
1.1
José Ureña has been the most effective starter in the Tigers’ rotation not named Matthew Boyd who is on tap for tomorrow’s tilt. His win-loss numbers mean absolutely nothing on a team that has a historically terrible offense, but things are a bit weird when it comes to some of his peripherals such as his low-ish strikeout and high walk percentages.
However, his high groundball rate of 59.6 percent along with an impressive 4.8 percent home run-to-fly ball ratio has been the winning formula, which is confirmed by his solid FIP. It all adds up to a successful free agent signing for Al Avila when it comes to this 29-year-old right-hander.
0.3
Last time out against the Oakland Athletics, Matt Boyd threw a quality start that was unfortunately wasted on a 3-2 loss en route to a four-game west coast sweep. The veteran lefthander threw 7
1⁄
3 innings allowing four hits and two earned runs including his first home run allowed this season along with just one walk issued against five strikeouts on just 94 pitches. That level of production and efficiency will give the Tigers a chance to win every time.
As the season wears on and the sample size increases, it has become more and more apparent that Boyd’s new approach that relies less on the strikeout and more on pitching to contact is a winning formula. Taking a look at Baseball Savant’s numbers, he has been able to excel in a few important areas of concern, including average exit velocity and barrel percentage both important indicators that his home run suppression tendencies this season could be real and not just a mirage.