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One time Jorge Lopez almost threw a perfect game.
It was the best start of the 26-year-old’s career, and a slice of what 92-94 mph heat with lots of run can do with a good defense behind you. Fortunately for the Mariners that has been the outlier in Lopez’s career, as his underwhelming strikeout and whiff numbers pair with fairly high walk rates to to equal replacement-level results. In his two starts this season Mike Leake has matched Lopez’s career-high 0.2 fWAR, and has looked legitimately excellent doing so. His slider has had a little extra spin and movement on it this year so far and it’s been nearly unhittable, which is of course not the case for the rest of his repertoire.
The rest of the lineup looks as expected. Jay Bruce gets the day off as the team gives his Achilles soreness, which is believed to be minor, a rest. The conditions are ripe for a sweep before the competition level kicks up with the Astros and Cleveland coming to town, so this getaway game would be a good one to get against this pesky Royals crew.
Both lineups pic.twitter.com/fQNptY7Dvq
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) April 11, 2019
Game Time: 10:15 AM PT
TV: ROOT
Radio: 710 AM ESPN/MLB At Bat App
Online: MLB.TV