MLB Games Of The Day For Friday, Aug. 26
The best matchups of the day, all in one place
Matthew Horner - Aug 26, 2022, 11:34am EDTOne of my favorite games on Friday's slate will feature the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox, and that mostly has to do with the incredible Michael Wacha getting the start for Boston. The Red Sox as a team have been woefully disappointing this season, especially coming off of that great run they had last year. They've taken a step back, and management knows this, which is why they tried selling virtually the entire roster at the trade deadline. It didn't work out, so now they are stuck with an average team that is just kind of there, but not going anywhere, if you know what I mean. Wacha has been excellent for them though, with a fantastic 2.28 ERA and 1.04 WHIP to boot. He's been straight up un-hittable at Fenway, logging a 1.14 ERA and 4-1 record in his home stadium, which is where he will be for this one.
Tampa Bay is in the thick of the playoff race, so you know they will be giving their most concerted effort against this AL East division foe in order to keep up with the rest of the league. Someone has to claim that final Wild Card spot, and Tampa has a very good chance of doing so if they can hold the ship steady. But it's going to be tough to get to Wacha here.
You know, I really don't trust Gerrit Cole. Sure, he can be electric at times and look like his old self from his Houston and Pittsburgh days, but far too often does this guy really stink up the place. There has already been several times this season where he has simply imploded, especially early in games, where he looks like he was not ready at all to take the mound. Cole is frustrating, to be sure, and his 3.41 ERA ranks him outside the top 30 pitchers in baseball. He's on the road in this game where he has struggled the most this year, with a 3.79 road ERA compared to just a 3.15 at home.
The Athletics are terrible, there is no denying that. Their lineup is awful, and for the most part, their pitching rotation is too. They'll have JP Sears on the mound for this game, and he's actually been awesome in his limited time out there. He owns a 1.93 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 37.1 innings of work this season, which is really good. Did I also mention he is 5-0 on the season? 3-0 at home with a 1.75 ERA. Call me crazy, but with how cold the Yankees offense has generally been lately, I could see Oakland taking a lead off Cole.
Should be a great series here when the Guardians visit Seattle to take on the upstart Mariners. Both of these teams have similar records, not overly fantastical, but around 10 games over .500. We have an excellent matchup on the mound between Shane Bieber and Logan Gilbert, two guys with very similar stats this season. Bieber owns a 3.10 ERA, while Gilbert checks in at 3.52. Both guys have put in the work, with over 140 innings for each, but that can sometimes wain on the more inexperienced pitcher. Gilbert is that guy, and he's never pitched this many innings in a season in his life, I'm sure. A lot of times, that can have an effect on how a guy throws down the stretch when he's logged as many frames as Gilbert has.
Neither offense is that spectacular, but both can get the job done when need be. For me personally, I'd usually fade Bieber because I just don't see the same guy that won the Cy Young a few seasons ago. However, Gilbert is the one I want to target. I think he's getting a bit tired out there, as his performance has gotten increasingly more volatile as of late. He also owns a 4.06 ERA at home, much worse than how he performs on the road.
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