One Night Only: Hot Game Previews for May 31st

Someone’s excited to watch the Rays tonight.

This edition of One Night Only contains:

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

2. Brief, but no less charming, previews for four more games: San Francisco at St. Louis, San Diego at Atlanta, Astro Jordan Lyles’ major-league debut and Florida at Arizona.

3. Names like Jose Bautista, Zack Greinke, and then Jose Bautista, again — just for fun.

4. Pitcher and Team NERD scores for every one of tonight’s games.

5. Five numbered points!

Texas (8) at Tampa Bay (7) | 18:40 ET
Starting Pitchers
Rangers: C.J. Wilson (5)
74.2 IP, 7.83 K/9, 2.89 BB/9, .288 BABIP, 45.2% GB, 8.3% HR/FB, 3.34 xFIP, 84 xFIP-

Rays: Alex Cobb (N/A)
Triple-A: 47.1 IP, 9.51 K/9, 1.90 BB/9, 0.38 HR/9, 2.33 FIP

Notes
• Per the internet, Cobb will be taking Andy Sonnanstine’s place in the Rays rotation.
• Per StatCorner and First Inning, Cobb appears to have posted ground-ball rates in the low- to mid-50s as a minor leaguer.
• He was also the best pitcher in the Arizona Fall League, per the highly revolutionary SCOUT metric.
• Despite posting a 6.12 ERA, that is.
• ERA? Pssh. What is this, 2004?

If I Had My Druthers
• It actually would be 2004 again.
• I could bet on all the sports, like Marty McFly in Back to the Future 2.
• And give the money to charity that’s really important to me, I mean.

Cleveland (10) at Toronto (8) | 19:07 ET
Starting Pitchers
Indians: Mitch Talbot (N/A)
15.1 IP, 7.04 K/9, 4.11 BB/9, .396 BABIP, 50.9% GB, 7.1% HR/FB, 3.98 xFIP, 100 xFIP-

Blue Jays: Brandon Morrow (10)
39.0 IP, 11.08 K/9, 3.92 BB/9, .333 BABIP, 34.7% GB, 2.4% HR/FB, 3.17 xFIP, 80 xFIP-

A Fact About Mitch Talbot
Tonight he makes he second start back after spending some time on the DL with elbow discomfort.

Another Fact About Mitch Talbot
No one — not even his mother — can tell the difference between him and Josh Tomlin.

Jose Bautista Watch
211 PA, .356/.502/.791 (.330 BABIP), .536 wOBA, 251 wRC+, 4.8 WAR

Milwaukee (8) at Cincinnati (9) | 19:10 ET
Starting Pitchers
Brewers: Zack Greinke (10)
28.0 IP, 12.54 K/9, 1.61 BB/9, .348 BABIP, 34.7% GB, 17.9% HR/FB, 1.61 xFIP, 44 xFIP-

Reds: Chad Reineke (N/A)
53.2 IP, 5.20 K/9, 2.68 BB/9, 0.50 HR/9, 3.72 FIP

Irrefutable Observation
Reineke and Greinke rhyme.

Unsupported Conjecture
Both pitchers are sons of Brewer manager Ron Roenicke.

Obvious Conclusion
Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!

Regarding Greinke, His xFIP
The lowest xFIP since 2002 (i.e. The FanGraphs Era) is Curt Schilling’s 2.21 mark.

Correlation or Causation?
Zack Greinke and Joey Votto have both had very public bouts with anxiety and are both also notable for their interest in advanced metrics.

Four Other Games
San Francisco (3) at St. Louis (5) | 19:09 ET
• Per this press release, tonight’s game, originally scheduled to start 7:15 p.m. CT, has been moved to as strange a time as anyone could think of.

San Diego (5) at Atlanta (6) | 19:10 ET
• Mike Minor’s first start back in the majors last week (5/25): 5.2 IP, 25 TBF, 5 K, 2 BB, 11 GB on 18 batted balls (61.1% GB).

Houston (3) at Chicago Nationals (0) | 20:05 ET
• Today is the major-league debut of Houston’s top prospect Jordan Lyles. Lyles’ numbers at Triple-A: 59.0 IP, 6.25 K/9, 2.44 BB/9, 3.49 FIP.

Florida (3) at Arizona (10) | 21:40 ET
• Anibal Sanchez (8) right now: 65.2 IP, 9.05 K/9, 3.02 BB/9, 46.5% GB, 3.05 xFIP, 82 xFIP-

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 (or 10 for debuts)