Starters vs Minnesota?

[SteveA]

26 minutes ago, Wavetrapper said:

Slater first choice 

Rather have Kjerstad bat vs Slater glove.  
 

Holliday second choice 

You are probably going to want Slater to start vs Skubal over Kjerstad.   Skubal holds LH hitters to a .186 average / .486 OPS.  

[Wavetrapper]

47 minutes ago, SteveA said:

You are probably going to want Slater to start vs Skubal over Kjerstad.   Skubal holds LH hitters to a .186 average / .486 OPS.  

Good information.  I would agree for sure if it was a one game series.  Assuming the series goes 3 games, would you keep Slater over Kjerstad?  
 

I guess if we are prioritizing RH bats, then I’d drop Holliday.  

[SteveA]

1 minute ago, Wavetrapper said:

Good information.  I would agree for sure if it was a one game series.  Assuming the series goes 3 games, would you keep Slater over Kjerstad?  
 

I guess if we are prioritizing RH bats, then I’d drop Holliday.  

I think there's room to keep both.   Shed some bad bullpen arms like Baker and Bowman.   Either Rivera or Gregory Soto can go.   So even if you add McDermott you can keep both Slater and Kjerstad.

[Wavetrapper]

I thought about Rivera,  but I figured his ability to play two positions would keep him around. 
 

It will be interesting to see what they decide.  
 

One of the non-pitchers will need to be left off as I understand it.     13 max    

 

[CP0861]

1 hour ago, SteveA said:

You are probably going to want Slater to start vs Skubal over Kjerstad.   Skubal holds LH hitters to a .186 average / .486 OPS.  

Skubal holds Slater to a .000 average/.000 OPS. SSS with only 5 AB's, but he's 0-5 with 0 walks and 2k's.

DH vs Skubal = Rivera

Edited 1 hour ago by CP0861

[LookitsPuck]

2 hours ago, SteveA said:

You are probably going to want Slater to start vs Skubal over Kjerstad.   Skubal holds LH hitters to a .186 average / .486 OPS.  

I guess the question is do you believe in Skubal's splits or Slater's splits?

Slater is worse against lefties this year (188 AVG, 541 OPS), which is about in line with how Skubal holds LHH. Historically he's better against lefties than he's shown this year, but historically he's been better than he's been this year (which is, well, bad). I just don't think we can put any weight on Slater's previous years of "prowess" against lefties when this year he's been just bad overall, but even worse against lefties. 

Obviously an extremely SSS for Kjerstad this year, but against lefties he's been better: 375/813 OPS, albeit in only 16 PA. 

It's a tough matchup either way. But Slater has fallen off a cliff lately. 

To me it's not a question of offense, though. I'd put Kjerstad in there every single time over Slater if that was the question. It's more on the defensive side of things. I reckon you're going to want a pristine game defensively.

To that end, Slater is just a better defensive player. So, I'd begrudgingly give him the nod and have the OF alignment be Slater, Cowser, Santander. 

[LookitsPuck]

This is what my lineup would be against Skubal:

1. Gunnar Henderson - SS
2. Jordan Westburg - 2B
3. Anthony Santander - RF
4. Ryan Mountcastle - 1B
5. Adley Rutschman - DH
6. Colton Cowser - CF
7. Ramon Urias - 3B
8. Austin Slater - LF
9. James McCann - C