The Blue Jays look to win two in a row tonight in Baltimore as Drew Hutchison takes on Bud Norris. The 29-year-old right hander has one horrid start under his belt this year giving up five runs on nine hits in five innings in Detroit. He's pretty solidly a fringe starter in the AL East and might have a rough year ahead of him if things keep going in the direction they're heading.
Bud Norris is mainly a fastball and slider pitcher with some changeups thrown in against left-handed hitters that don't work very well. He sits mid-90's with his fastballs so he has the ability to blow it by some people, but it just hasn't come together for him recently. In his lone start this year he actually threw 67% fastballs and 21% sliders so his pitch selection is pretty limited at this point in the season. His slider against right handers is usually located low and away, which seems to always cause big problems to the Blue Jays power hitters:
As mentioned by Stacey from Camden Chat, Bud Norris has a horrible time against lefties, which makes sense due to him featuring a fastball and slider along with a poor changeup.
But it's against the lefties that Bud Norris finds his doom. Lefties hit .273/.35/.450 against Norris in his career, and it's ultimately what will drive him out of a starting rotation. I am already imagining the damage that Adam Lind and Melky Cabrera are going to do to him.
I like the sound of that Stacey. Might as well get straight to the lineup that hopefully will knock Norris around this evening:
- Melky Cabrera LF
- Colby Rasmus CF
- Jose Bautista RF
- Edwin Encarnacion 1B
- Adam Lind DH
- Brett Lawrie 3B
- Maicer Izturis 2B
- Dioner Navarro C
- Ryan Goins 2B
Find The Link
Find the link between Bud Norris and the singer of "Amish Paradise"
Enjoy the game!