One Night Only: Hot Game Previews for April 7th

Below, please find three games arranged in chronological order, voted Best Kind of Order once again in 2011.

(Note: Today’s ZiPS projections include FIP-, which is a much less complicated thing than you might initially suspect. Basically, 100 is league average, lower is better.)

Oakland at Toronto | 12:37pm ET
Starting Pitchers
Athletics: Trevor Cahill
194.2 IP, 5.50 K/9, 3.10 BB/9, 4.43 FIP, 108 FIP- (ZiPS)

Blue Jays: Ricky Romero
212.2 IP, 7.62 K/9, 3.68 BB/9, 3.84 FIP, 94 FIP- (ZiPS)

Notes
• In his first start of the season, Trevor Cahill had eight strikeouts in just 4.2 innings.
• He also used his curve — generally regarded as excellent — about twice as much as he did during his average start last season.
• “Those two things are totally related,” you’re maybe thinking.
• “They’re actually probably not,” Chris Cwik just told us.
• He also told us his surname’s pronounced “Swick,” though, so maybe he can’t be trusted.

If I Had My Druthers
• FanGraphs’ Chris Cwik would pronounce his name the right way.
• So we could say things like “The Cwik and the Dead,” is why.
• Which, that’d be a Western movie starring Chris Cwik, duh.

New York Nationals at Philadelphia | 3:05pm ET
Starting Pitchers
Mets: Jonathon Niese
164.3 IP, 7.18 K/9, 3.23 BB/9, 3.91 FIP, 96 FIP- (ZiPS)

Phillies: Roy Halladay
222.7 IP, 7.76 K/9, 1.33 BB/9, 3.03 FIP, 74 FIP- (ZiPS)

Notes
• Per PitchFx, Halladay averaged just 16.9 seconds between pitches in his first start of the season.
• That’s compared to a league average that generally sits around 21.5 seconds.
• He also walked just a single batter no batters over six innings in that game.
• Noted astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has postulated that, if conditions were optimal, time could actually stand still during a Halladay start.
• Or even move backwards, Tyson continued to postulate.

If I Had My Druthers
• Time would move backwards during a Roy Halladay start.
• It’d go all the way back to before I decided to cut my own sideburns.
• I’d tell myself, “Dude, stop. Leave it to the professionals.”

Detroit at Baltimore | 7:05pm ET
Starting Pitchers
Tigers: Brad Penny
95.7 IP, 5.36 K/9, 2.73 BB/9, 4.29 FIP, 105 FIP- (ZiPS)

Orioles: Chris Tillman
160.3 IP, 5.84 K/9, 3.20 BB/9, 4.80 FIP, 118 FIP- (ZiPS)

Notes
• Here’re some mostly unimpressive numbers from Chris Tillman’s season debut: 6.0 IP, 21 TBF, 5 K, 3 BB, 4 GB on 13 batted balls (30.8%).
• Here’s one quite impressive number from same: 0 H.
• Tillman’s a former prospect, ranked 22nd overall on BA’s top-100 list before the 2009 season.
• He’s also a pitcher who’s done this in 24 career major-league starts: 124.2 IP, 5.41 K/9, 4.19 BB/9, 39.2 GB%, 5.07 xFIP.
• Permit yourself to ask, totally in the voice of Jerry Seinfeld, “What’s the deal with Chris Tillman?”

If I Had My Druthers
• Audio would become available of Jerry Seinfeld actually asking “What’s the deal with Chris Tillman?”
• With Seinfeld also adding, “He’s a former top prospect, he’s pitched poorly in the majors.”
• And concluding, still totally in the voice of Jerry Seinfeld, “What’s up with that?”