MLB Gas Cans Of The Day For Thursday, August 18

Opposing offenses are in great spots

San Diego Padres vs. Anibal Sanchez (7.20 ERA), Washington Nationals

The Padres have one of the most potent lineups in all of baseball, especially after they traded for Nationals superstars Juan Soto and Josh Bell. The combined those stars with the already potent power of Manny Machado, and every team should be on alert when they have to face San Diego. Fernando Tatis Jr. would have made them even better, but it looks like he won't be playing for a while after he was suspended for 80 games for violating the MLB's PED policy. Still, they can put runs up in a hurry, and they should have no problem doing that here against Anibal Sanchez and the Nets.

In his last start, he allowed three runs on six hits and three walks while striking out four batters over five innings of work in a no-decision against this same San Diego team. He wasn't as good as his stats may indicate, as he threw only 57 of 98 pitches for strikes and tied a season high with three walks. He served up multiple homers for the fourth time in six starts, and I don't think he does even this well again. Sanchez has yet to pick up a victory, but he did avoid taking his sixth straight loss. He simply hasn't pitched well in his 16th year, posting a 7.20 ERA and 1.60 WHIP over six starts.

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New York Yankees vs. Jose Berrios (5.61 ERA), Toronto Blue Jays

It is very difficult to back the Yankees right now, as they have been just brutally awful over their last couple of weeks. Obviously, this doesn't play very well with the fans of the Big Apple, and they are calling for Aaron Boone's job. They have the talent clearly to rip apart most teams and especially poor pitching, but they will have to break out of this slump and stop Anthony Rizzo from destroying things in the dugout. This could be the perfect opportunity to do so against Jose Berrios and the Blue Jays.

Berrios wasn't able to make his last start due to inclement weather, and instead, the Blue Jays decided to just let him have a start off to regather himself. Usually that means that a guy is really struggling, so much so that they don't want him on the mound in his current form. Berrios owns a 5.61 ERA this season, which is easily the worst of his career, and he has been awful in his starts to this point. Perhaps having the week off will help him out a bit, but if he continues on his trend this season, this won't be a pretty outing.

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Texas Rangers vs. Zach Logue (5.49 ERA), Oakland Athletics

It looks like the Rangers are completely cleaning house after their disappointing 2022 season this year. They fired their manager and their president, and could be looking at a complete tear down under a new regime when it comes in. For now, we will focus on what they have in the field. Despite all the firings and bad juju around the team, they actually haven't been as bad as their record indicates in my opinion. Obviously, the organization doesn't agree with me and they are all about winning, but the stats say they shouldn't be as bad as they are. Texas only has a -5 run differential, which isn't that bad for a team that is 20+ games out of the division lead. They should be able to pick up a win here against Zach Logue and the A's.

In his last start, he served up six earned runs over 5.1 innings in a loss to Houston. He'll be making his second straight start through the Oakland rotation after the Athletics demoted their previous fifth starter, Adrian Martinez, to Triple-A last week. Logue will be on a short leash, and another poor showing against the Rangers would likely put him at risk of a demotion once again. Let's just be real here, he isn't a major-league ready pitcher. Texas should be able to jump on him early and often.

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