00:00San Diego Padres taking on the Boston Red Sox this weekend.
00:03Here today, we're going to have Walker Buehler on the mound
00:05taking on Ranger Suarez, the crafty lefty who, first start of the season,
00:08left a lot to be desired here.
00:10If we're taking a look at the temperatures today, Craig, in Boston,
00:13as I pointed out to start the show, some drizzle, around 55 to 60 degrees,
00:17but a light wind blowing out to center field at Fenway Park.
00:20Buehler versus Suarez.
00:21The total in this game has opened up at 9 overnight.
00:24Still sits at 9 at most marketplaces here.
00:26But a favorite, Craig, at least on FanDuel overnight,
00:28was around a minus 144, minus 145.
00:30That's increased at most outlets, even as high as 160 here.
00:34The favorite, Boston Red Sox, looking to get it going at the plate here, Craig,
00:38going up against Walker Buehler today.
00:39Yeah, not scoring many runs.
00:41Before we get to this game in particular, Donnie,
00:43one thing I do want to mention is that hopefully people can remember
00:46and put to bed.
00:47I know that you're not one of these people that qualify.
00:49But the amount of people complaining,
00:53which is always complaining on social media, but let's just be clear.
00:56The amount of people complaining that their team in the Northeast
01:00didn't get that traditional opening day last week.
01:04This is why early on in the season, you got to play in the warm weather sites.
01:10You got to try and play in the domes because we're going to have horrendous weather today
01:15and tomorrow and maybe even in the early part of next week.
01:19This is why baseball gets it right to put the spots in St. Petersburg and Texas
01:24and Miami and some of the spots where you actually get the games in.
01:28No one wants to be traveling in September, Donnie, late in the season to replay games
01:34that don't matter.
01:34Now, that being said, neither team, Donnie, is off to a good start here.
01:39I mean, if you would have had the combined record of the Padres and Red Sox
01:42at the start of the season, you would have been disappointed.
01:45Look, I mean, it's very hard for me to look at a game in back Walker Buehler
01:49at this point of his career is, you know, certainly struggled to get a contract
01:53in the offseason.
01:54Once upon a time, one of the most dynamic pitchers in baseball,
01:56but he's bounced around a bit.
01:58This seems like a get-right spot for me for Boston.
02:01And, you know, Willier Abreu is a shining light, I guess, on this team thus far.
02:05But they do have a lot of good offensive players.
02:07I do think Boston will get it going.
02:10Whether or not it's today, I'm not clear.
02:11But I would say overall disappointing to see a potential, I mean, you never know,
02:16World Series matchup, Padres-Reds.
02:18Yuck, these teams are like 5-11 to start the season?
02:21What's going on here?
02:23Absolutely brutal.
02:24And, too, take a look at the Red Sox offense.
02:25Tied for lowest-scoring team in Major League Baseball with a few other teams.
02:28We're not expecting that heading into the season.
02:30But Craig is right at this point.
02:31We saw games yesterday where we're playing snow flurries out here.
02:34That's not the way Major League Baseball is supposed to be played.
02:36Hitting weather hopefully is around the corner.
02:38But if we're taking a look at some of these matchups today, Craig,
02:40Ranger Suarez has faced 20 total batters on the season so far.
02:43ISO against 316.
02:45That's not Suarez-like here.
02:46Weighted on base percentage, 467.
02:48Get out of here.
02:49But, however, the San Diego Padres, Craig, also point out,
02:52struggling on their season.
02:53They haven't hit left-handed pitching all that well on this early season.
02:56If we flip it over to the Boston Red Sox, who are going to be going up,
02:59or excuse me, the Boston Red Sox, excuse me, yeah, how about this?
03:02Walker Buehler going to face the Boston Red Sox.
03:05Get that one out here.
03:06The lineup there, William Abreu is absolutely crushed right-handed pitching
03:09to the tune of 23 at-bats this year, Craig.
03:114.78 on that ISO, and a 5.39 weighted on-base percentage.
03:16Just waiting for some of those better weather to come in.
03:18But I agree with you.
03:19It seems like Ranger Suarez, bounce-back performance.
03:22Sox finally get off the turf.
03:23But at the same time, we do got to worry about that weather today.
03:26Yeah, and the one thing that I would also add to this is that the early part of the season,
03:30a lot of fans and their teams freak out when lefties come in and dominate their teams.
03:36But the truth is, Donnie, is that in spring training,
03:38you're really not getting the full complement of five, six, seven innings from lefties.
03:43Batters are not seeing them that often.
03:45They're out of the game.
03:46And this is why the early part of the year could be a struggle with that.
03:49That will normalize over the course of the season.
03:51But as you said, to me, look, you mentioned Boston gave a lot of money to Ranger Suarez.
03:57They're hoping for a better performance.
03:58But it was just one game.
04:01And, you know, from watching some of these games, by the way, Donnie,
04:04walks are just going up across the board in these northeast spots.
04:08It's wet.
04:08It's rainy.
04:09It's hard to manipulate the ball normally.
04:11So keep an eye on that today.
04:13Maybe some more walks, more runs coming in in this game as well.
Comments