Everyday across the league unexpected, unfathomable and truly unpredictable things occur. Hindsight is 20/20, as they say, and when you look over the box scores it can be easy to say that you saw it coming. Today I will make 5 predictions for the July 11th MLB slate.
1.) Paul Skenes Gets Rocked in Milwaukee
One of the most talked about pitching prospects that baseball has had in recent years has lived up to the hype, so far. Sporting a 5-0 record, a 2.12 ERA and a selection to the All-Star game has shown Skenes has not yet been tripped up in his short career. Until today. Facing the National League Central leading Milwaukee Brewers, who just finished a 9-0 blowout against Pittsburgh yesterday, may prove to be a challenge for the superstar in the making.
2.) The Phillies Break Out the Brooms, Sweep Los Angeles
After giving the Dodgers a beatdown on Tuesday, the Phillies followed up with a 4-3 victory on Wednesday. Bryce Harper, who received the most votes to start in the 2024 all-star game, did not even play last night, so expect him to be added to an already star studded line up on Thursday. The Phillies are a National League best 22-13 against teams that are above .500, and to date are undefeated against the NL Central leading Brewers and the NL West leading Dodgers.
3.) Jack Kochanowicz Dominates in his MLB Debut, Gets the Win
The Angels have not had much success as of late, so they turn to their 6’ 7” rookie to hopefully turn things around. Kochanowicz has never pitched above AA, and his currently ranked 7th on the Angels’ top prospects list. He is coming off a complete game in his last start, so hopefully he can translate that success to the Big Leagues against Seattle at home.
4.) Yandy Diaz and Isaac Parades Both Go Yard
Nestor Cortes and the Yankees have seen the Rays a lot over the years, and many players in this Tampa line up have enjoyed facing the crafty lefty. Diaz and Parades have both homered multiple times off of him, and both have averages north of .333. Both players have not been playing well as of late, but seeing Cortes may be enough to spark some life into their bats down at the Trop.
5.) Steele, Gore and Fried Each Strikeout 7+ Batters
This trio of lefties will have some success on Thursday, and can build off some personal patterns of success that they have had. Steele struck out 7 in his last start, and 9 two starts before that. He has been pitching really well as of late. Gore, on the other hand, has had glimmers of success, mixed with some poor starts. In 2 of his last 3 starts, Gore has been tagged for 5 earned runs, but sprinkled in a gem against the Mets where he struck out 8. Fried has not had the big strikeout numbers over his last few starts, finishing with exactly 4 in four straight starts. Prior to that, Fried had a few 6 K games, a 9 K and a 13 K performance.
Leave a Reply