Game 129, Mariners at White Sox
Ariel Miranda vs. Jose Quintana, 4:10pm
Having vanquished Chris Sale, the M’s now have to deal with an equally formidable (though completely dissimilar) pitcher in Jose Quintana.
Another lefty, Quintana’s done a great job of dominating left handed bats over his career – they’ve got an OBP of .293 in Quintana’s career. But while Sale gets far more K’s and thus strands more base runners, Quintana’s steady excellence produces a similar value. In years like this one, where Quintana’s BABIP or strand rate allow, he allows fewer runs than his more heralded teammate.
He has a change, but the pitch that really allows him to succeed against righties is his curve. It’s thrown at about 77 MPH and, like his fastball, doesn’t show much in the way of eye popping movement or spin. Command obviously allows it to play up, and the result is a pitcher far better than the sum of his velo and stuff.
1: Martin, CF
2: Heredia, LF
3: Cano, 2B
4: Cruz, DH
5: Seager, 3B
6: Gutierrez, RF
7: Lee, 1B
8: Iannetta, C
9: Marte, SS
As you can see, the M’s flurry of roster moves continues, as Dae Ho Lee’s been recalled from Tacoma, with Nori Aoki returning to AAA for a week or so.
Because they needed help in the bullpen, the M’s have also added Pat Venditte, the switch pitcher they traded for a few weeks ago. To make room, they optioned Mike Freeman back down.
They had a spare 40-man spot though, and that leads to the most interesting move: the M’s have purchased the contract of AA reliever Dan Altavilla. Altavilla was an undersized starting pitcher from a small northeastern college, which checks all of the boxes for a McNamara draft pick. He had a solid season in the rotation for Bakersfield last year, but he’s responded well to life in relief, with a FB that touches 95.