4/6/19: Open Game Thread

Yesterday we saw a matchup of two fairly different, but slightly comparable pitchers. Reynaldo López and Yusei Kikuchi have different handedness, styles, and continents of origin, but they’re both pitchers with plenty of movement and strikeout stuff when used right. Today that will not be the case. Lucas Giolito was once the top pitching prospect in the Nationals system, which meant he became the top prospect in the White Sox system in the same trade that brought López and current high-level pitching prospect/recent Tommy John undergoer Dane Dunning to the Chi. Everything about Giolito has been equal parts enticing and frustrating, but the command has been foremost. Mike Leake has... the opposite issue, to put it mildly. Giolito came out in his first start with arguably his best MLB outing last week, and had an extra tick on his heater, but until proven otherwise I think we should expect another slugfest.

In case you missed it, Dee Gordon suffered a mild groin pull yesterday while diving back into first in the frosty climes. According to Scott Servais, the injury is mild as they suspected, but they’ll be playing it safe, which is encouraging growth from the team.

This makes for an unfortunately thin Mariners bench once again today, however. Edwin Encarnación returns from his sore finger, but the hot-hitting Daniel Vogelbach is unfortunately returned to the bench with nowhere else to put him and continue starting Jay Bruce.

Nonetheless, it’s the second of three straight servings of breakfast baseball. Eat up.

Game Time: 11:10 AM PT
TV: ROOT
Radio: 710 AM ESPN or MLB At-Bat App
Online: MLB.TV