Baseball is a unique sport in more ways than one. For a team to be successful, it takes camaraderie and buy-in to successfully reach a common goal. It is also impossible for this to happen without individual success.
We often compare a pitcher and hitter to a ‘cat and mouse,’ or a chess match where one is trying to out-smart the other. We have some pitcher/hitter matchups to be on the lookout for today. Let’s take a look at the three most intriguing matchups on Monday’s slate.
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Michael Wacha vs. Ty France
The Kansas City Royals will play host to the Minnesota Twins to wrap up a three game set on Thursday. After splitting the first two games of the series, veteran right-hander Michael Wacha will look to give the Royals a series win but there is one Twins hitter he is likely not looking forward to facing: Ty France.
France has faced Wacha an even 20 times and has 10 hits against him. Five of those hits were singles and the other five were doubles. With the type of power France has and his past success against Wacha, he has the potential to have a big afternoon on Thursday.
Chris Bassitt vs. Rafael Devers
After a very slow start to the season, Rafael Devers has slowly started coming around for the Boston Red Sox. He will look to continue that trend against AL East foe Chris Bassitt and the Toronto Blue Jays. Although Devers has been featured in our ‘MLB Matchups’ series a couple of times, his career numbers against Bassitt are too good to overlook.
In 14 at-bats against Bassitt, Devers is 7-for-14. Three of those seven hits have left the yard. Devers also has two singles and two doubles against the Blue Jays starter. Bassitt has struck Devers out four times, but the Red Sox slugger wins the majority of the battles these two have.
Jesús Luzardo vs. Ozzie Albies
The Atlanta Braves have a chance on Thursday to take two out of three games against the Philadelphia Phillies. Even if Atlanta wins the rubber match, they will still be five games out and last place in the division but are looking for any spark they can get to propel them to their original expectations. Switch-hitting second baseman Ozzie Albies could be that ignition.
Philadelphia will run out southpaw hurler Jesús Luzardo and give Albies the rare opportunity to hit from the right side of the plate which tends to be his strong suit. Historically, Albies has more power from the right side. Albies is 4-for-13 (.308) against Luzardo in his career, with three doubles. If the Braves are able to take the series from the Phillies on Thursday, there’s a good chance Ozzie Albies will be the reason.