May 11, 2009 (Baseball Musings delivered by Newstex ) --
MLB only schedule four games for this Monday. The night starts with the White Sox visiting the Indians as Gavin Floyd faces Carl Pavano. The Indians are four games behind Chicago, so this three game series is a chance for them to gain some ground on fourth place. Floyd is striking out more batters and giving up fewer home runs than in 2007, but his walks are up and so is his ERA. On top of that, nine of the 13 extra-base hits he allowed came with men on base. Carl Pavano is turning out to be worth the low amount of money the Indians are paying him based on his ERA. His strikeouts, walks and HR allowed are okay, hes just been horrible with men in scoring position. The matchup of the night takes place in New York where Derek Lowe and the Braves battle Johan Santana and the Mets. Lowe is coming off a poor start against the Marlins, but five of his seven games were very good. Santana has yet to pitch poorly this season. Hes only given up as many as two runs twice. The few lefties who batted against him this year hit him decently well, with a .324 OBA and a .471 slugging percentage. Maybe teams are platooning too much against him.
The Reds go into Arizona with Bronson Arroyo taking on Jon Garland. Arroyo usually strikes out two to three times the batters he walks, but this year hes close to even. All three home runs Garland allowed this year came at home.
Finally, the Nationals continue their western swing with a trip to San Francisco where Daniel Cabrera takes on Randy Johnson. The Big Unit goes for his 298th win. His home-road split is fairly amazing this season. In SF, hes 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA, 23 K and three walks. Put him on the road and that changes to 0-2, 11.37 ERA with seven K and 13 walks. It doesnt matter if Cabrera is at home or on the road. Hes walking twice as many as hes striking out.
Enjoy!
Newstex ID: 34830085
