:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/34705033/20140621_lbm_sa7_081.JPG.0.jpg)
Fresh off their defeat of Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka, the Orioles get sent right back into a similar situation on Monday. They get to go up against Chris Sale. No rest for the weary, the wicked, nor the walk-averse. There is rest for Chris Davis, though. He's out of the starting lineup against the toughest of tough lefties.
Pitchers
LHP Chris Sale, White Sox
2014: 10 GS, 65.1 IP, 2.20 ERA, 75 SO, 10 BB, .170 BAA, 0.75 WHIP
Last start (vs. Giants): 6 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO
From one Cy Young contender to another, although Sale will be hurt by the fact that he spent some time on the disabled list. He'll also probably be hurt by the fact that the White Sox are nowhere near contention.
Sale doesn't walk many people, but does that hurt the Orioles, who never walk? Well, the fact that he gets a ton of strikeouts will probably hurt them. Doing damage when they don't strike out is the key. Maybe they can do something with that. Sale gets nearly 50% ground balls on top of all of those strikeouts. That's actually kind of ridiculous. Why can't the Orioles get themselves a Sale?
LHP Wei-Yin Chen, Orioles
2014: 14 GS, 83.1 IP, 3.78 ERA, 60 SO, 12 BB, .276 BAA, 1.24 WHIP
Last start (at Rays): 6.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 HR, 1 BB, 3 SO
Chen is working on a streak of three straight quality starts. He'll need to be on his best behavior. One bit of good news for Chen is that the White Sox are a weaker team against left-handed pitching this year, batting only .245/.298/.387.
It's kind of ridiculous how much better than Chen's numbers Sale is. Chen is not bad by Orioles pitcher standards, and Sale has allowed a batting average over .100 points lower than Chen's. Plus, Chen's WHIP is more than half again as much as Sale's.
Maybe this has something to do with Davis' absence from the lineup?
Davis said the oblique is still bothering him some. It likely will until end of season. But he is not using that as an excuse to off woes.
— Dan Connolly (@danconnollysun) June 23, 2014
Nice to know that it's not going to get any better.