Beating the Tigers Would Be Nice - Game Preview & Lineups 4/21

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We’ve watched these games with more promise than we have in over a year. We’ve watched the offense succeed, we’ve watched pieces of the pitching staff excel as others struggle, and we’ve watched a team that has not yet cashed it in for the season. But we watch while reminding ourselves that this team is not going to win any divisions. This team is supposed to be taking a step towards being a team that wins divisions. If for some reason this team does want to make a go of things, it would behoove them to win some games that simultaneously notch tallies in the Detroit Tigers’ loss column.

John Danks is getting dangerously close to doing the things he’s being paid to do. In his 19 innings so far he’s got a 3.32 ERA, which would match his career low if he could keep this going. If we’re lucky he’ll have 170 more innings or so to mess that up. Any less innings and he’s either back on the surgery table or has damaged that excellent start severely. A problem: he’s posting a 12.7% walk rate and he’s never in his career reached double digits in that department. Given that he’s allowing less hits than he ever has before, it would be a neat trick to see somebody exchange hits for simple walks, but somehow I doubt Mr. Danks has the ability to know which hitters to pass up and we’re going to either see some regression or some hard adjustments to his rates as his innings total goes up.

Miguel Cabrera might be the best hitter in the game but so far this year he’s struggling. His OPS+ of 81 stands out. His lack of power, just 1 HR, also stands out. Lucky for the folks in Detroit, the rest of the team has been contributing with the bats enough to mitigate the absence of prime Miguel numbers. Lead by Victor Martinez and his .500 SLG% the Tigers have scored enough runs to host the White Sox with a respectable 9-6 record.

Of course pitching has a part in that and Anibal Sanchez will look to prove it tonight. Anibal hasn’t been dazzling in his 3 starts but he’s been effective, allowing only 5 runs total but never pitching more than 5 innings in any. Being the first game of the series, a continuation of this could prove beneficial for the White Sox if they can get into the bullpen early and put some pressure on the remaining starters this week.

Today’s Lineup:

  1. JorDanks – CF
  2. Semien – 2B
  3. Gillaspie – 3B
  4. Abreu – 1B
  5. Dunn – DH
  6. Viciedo – RF
  7. Ramirez – SS
  8. De Aza – LF
  9. Nieto – C

John Danks - SP

Tigers Lineup:

  1. Davis - LF
  2. Kinsler – 2B
  3. Cabrera – 3B
  4. Martinez – DH
  5. Hunter – RF
  6. Jackson – CF
  7. Castellanos – 2B
  8. Avila – C
  9. Romine - SS

Anibal Sanchez - SP

Where to Watch:

Today’s game will be broadcast on WCIU and Fox Sports Detroit. 6:08 Central start time.