One Night Only: Hot Game Previews for April 27th

A visual representation of Jose Bautista’s slash stats.

This edition of One Night Only contains:

1. Expanded previews for three games: Cincinnati at Milwaukee, Kansas City at Cleveland, and Toronto at Texas.

2. NERD Game Scores™ for every one of tonight’s games.

3. Some unkempt thoughts regarding Kool Keith’s oeuvre.

Cincinnati (9) at Milwaukee (7) | 13:10 ET
Starting Pitchers
Reds: Sam LeCure (N/A)
17.1 IP, 8.83 K/9, 2.08 BB/9, .214 BABIP, 47.7 GB%, 21.1% HR/FB, 3.05 xFIP, 80 xFIP-

Brewers: Yovani Gallardo (5)
31.1 IP, 5.74 K/9, 2.87 BB/9, .310 BABIP, 48.5 GB%, 9.7% HR/FB, 3.97 xFIP, 103 xFIP-

Notes
• If you’re like me, you’re sitting near a bust of Marcus Aurelius, the great Stoic emperor.
• You’re also surprised that Sam LeCure — after any number of starts — is 20% better than league average at pitching.
• After all, he was only just 20th on John Sickels’ preseason prospect list for the Reds.
• Also, he’s never struck out as many batters as he’s currently striking out.
• He (i.e. LeCure) is probably exactly who Kool Keith was thinking about when he (i.e. Kool Keith) wrote his hit single “Though I Don’t Wish It Upon You, You’re Likely Due for Some Regression.”

If I Had My Druthers
• Kool Keith would write more songs about more baseball players.
• Like, he’d write a song about Joey Votto called “My Paesan” or something.
• And one about Zack Greinke, too — called “My Paesan” also, for no reason whatsoever.

Kansas City (9) at Cleveland (8) | 19:00 ET
Starting Pitchers
Royals: Jeff Francis (5)
31.0 IP, 4.65 K/9, 1.16 BB/9, .302 BABIP, 51.9 GB%, 13.3% HR/FB, 3.53 xFIP, 87 xFIP-

Indians: Josh Tomlin (5)
27.0 IP, 5.00 K/9, 2.33 BB/9, .182 BABIP, 43.0 GB%, 10.7% HR/FB, 4.03 xFIP, 100 xFIP-

Notes
• If you’re like me, you have a special deal with the government where you can pay your taxes late without filing for an extension.
• You also are curious as to whether or not Jeff Francis is 10 years old or something.
• Because he looks like a baby, is why.
• The sort of baby who can throw strikes and induce ground balls against major-league batters.
• In other words, a pretty great baby.

If I Had My Druthers
• I’d have the sort of baby who could throw strikes and induce ground balls against major leaguers.
• Or at least a one who could bring in some kind of revenue.
• Otherwise, what’s this baby just doing here?

Toronto (7) at Texas (6) | 20:05 ET
Starting Pitchers
Blue Jays: Jo-Jo Reyes (6)
20.1 IP, 7.97 K/9, 3.54 BB/9, .397 BABIP, 39.7 GB%, 3.8% HR/FB, 4.39 xFIP, 109 xFIP-

Rangers: Derek Holland (10)
26.2 IP, 8.44 K/9, 2.36 BB/9, .312 BABIP, 48.7 GB%, 13.0% HR/FB, 3.07 xFIP, 75 xFIP-

Notes
• Up to, but not including, last night’s game, the Blue Jays had recorded 3.0 WAR from hitting and fielding combined.
• Of that, 2.1 WAR belonged to Jose Bautista, who (again, before play last night) was hitting .364/.517/.788 (.372 BABIP), .549 wOBA, 264 wRC+.
• The thing about those numbers is, is they don’t even really make sense.
• They’re basically like the Any Which Way You Can* of baseball stats.
• What with the orangutan and everything.

If I Had My Druthers
• An enterprising director would make some films based on at least one or two player’s stats.
• Like one for Joey Votto‘s stats and one for Roy Halladay’s stats.
• And all of them star Gene Hackman.

*Thank you to Erik Hahmann for reminding me what love is about this film’s very existence.

Also Playing
These games are very likely playing at some kind of sporty channel near you.

pNERD = Pitcher NERD
tNERD = Team NERD
Game = Time and Average NERD for Game
* = Fewer than 20 IP, NERD of 5