Friday, June 21, 2013

Cole v Weaver; Tony Sanchez Up

Gerrit Cole (2-0, 3.75 ERA) makes his first MLB road start against Jered Weaver (1-3, 4.41) and the Angels tonight. Cole has depended on his fastball almost to a fault in his first two games, so maybe he'll dust off his slider a bit tonight. The California Kid is returning home; Anaheim is from first-to-third away from Orange Lutheran High School, where he played prep ball.

Weaver spent nearly two months on the DL with a fractured left elbow, and hasn't been able to shake the rust yet after four starts. But it's not a question of if he gets better, just when.

All in all, it's a marquee-type match up. The game from Angel Stadium starts at 10:05 and will be aired by Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

Pirates lineup: Starling Marte LF, Russell Martin C, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones DH, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Gaby Sanchez 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Travis Snider RF and Jordy Mercer SS.

Pretty much the A Team.

Angels lineup: Erick Aybar SS, Mike Trout LF, Albert Pujols 1B, Mark Trumbo DH, Howie Kendrick 2B, Alberto Callaspo 3B, Brad Hawpe RF, Hank Conger C and Peter Bourjos CF.
So Brad Hawpe did land a big league gig.

  • Dan Zangrilli of The Fan tweeted that C Tony Sanchez is on his way to Anaheim to join the Bucs and that's been confirmed; though unannounced as of yet, we're guessing Brandon Cumpton is going back to Indy. It may not be today; Tony can spend 24 hours, we believe, on the "taxi squad."  (EDIT - the moves became official about three hours before game time). Sanchez will become the eighth first round pick on the Pirate roster, along with Jason Grilli, Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, Bryan Morris, Travis Snider, Pedro Alvarez and Gerrit Cole.
  • The Angels and Pirates have met nine times, with the Halos holding a 6-3 edge. This is the first meeting between the clubs since 2007.
  • Ron Cook of the Post Gazette writes that Gerrit Cole could yet get a ticket back to Indy for both business and baseball reasons.
  • Buster Olney of ESPN suggests that the Cubs' Nate Schierholtz would be a fit for Pittsburgh as Chicago is ready to start their dealing pre-deadline.
  • Karen Price of the Tribune Review has a piece on Gregory Polanco.
  • J-Mac is on the hill for Indy tonight.
  • The Yankees, who were rumored to be interested in the Z-Man earlier, have signed Mike Zagurski to a minor league deal, according to MLB Trade Rumor's Tim Dierkes. Chris Cotillo adds that Zagurski will be sent to AAA Scranton-Wilkes Barre with an August 15th opt-out if he's not in the bigs.
  • Pedro Ciriaco landed on his feet at San Diego.

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