AL Wild Card Game: Previewing the Pitching matchup
The 2019 AL Wild Card game is here and it features the Tampa Bay Rays traveling to Oakland to face the Athletics.
Imagine laboring all season, fighting for any way to reach the AL Wild Card game. You are able to muster 97 wins and in theory, should be expecting favorable seeding.
Yet, when the realization comes that one more loss and your season is over, the first thought that pops into the mind must be how inherently unfair that is.
The key to this game will, of course, be the pitching matchup. The Athletics have a deeper lineup with far more power, while recent injuries have somewhat hampered their bullpen depth.
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On the contrary, Tampa Bay has the better of the two starters and an enormous bullpen with options that can be used at any juncture in the AL Wild Card game.
The starters are Charlie Morton for the Tampa Bay Rays and Sean Manaea for Oakland. Morton is clearly the superior pitcher in this matchup and he has profuse postseason experience over the last two seasons with Oakland. Morton holds a 5.0 WAR in 2019, which more than doubles his total prior to this season.
Manaea has accrued a 1.3 WAR in under 30 innings total, while Morton’s mark was stretched over 190 or so innings. The starters will have no trouble in creating difficulty for their opponents.
Morton has the upper hand against Manaea, however, he will likely not last much longer than six innings. It is uncertain whether or not Oakland will be able to crack through against the Rays bullpen. Yet, they must because that will be their easiest path to victory. Otherwise, they will be forced to outpitch a side that has a more dominant and deeper roster in this capacity.
The standout pitchers in the Rays bullpen that they will need to quell the offense of the Athletics are Chaz Roe, Oliver Drake, Nick Anderson, and Emilio Pagan. These would likely be the prime arms that relieve Morton’s approximately five innings of work.
The A’s, on the other hand, do not have quite so deep a bullpen. Liam Hendricks, Yusmeiro Petit, and Joakim Soria will be the focal points- Lou Trivino and Blake Treinen are both out with injury. This strategy either relies on Manaea to go deep into the outing or Petit to record multiple innings of relief. The only other option would be for the A’s power bats to get ahead early.
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If the Athletics become entrenched in a stalemate, the Rays gain a significant advantage due to the fact that their bullpen has quite a few extra reliable arms.