Astros starter Hunter Brown looks awesome this year. He's allowed one run over his last four starts, contributing to his 1.22 ERA. He has the best FIP in the American League and the most wins above replacement per Baseball Reference.
Will Venable's answer centers around, you guessed it, aggression.
“Tough assignment," Venable said. "He's got great stuff. He's been pitching really well, can beat you in a lot of different ways. So for us, we just have to be on attack mode and just go out there and attack and be aggressive. When we get some pitches in the zone, we can't miss them. When we get on the bases, we gotta put pressure on him. So for us, it's just to be ultra-aggressive.”
⚙️⚙️⚙️
Against Brown is Davis Martin and an underperforming slider. Once the pitch that got him to the big leagues, opponents are slugging .765 against Martin's slider in the early going, though the impact of such results are muted by how much he's leaned on his kick change instead.
With a right-handed heavy Astros lineup, and just because having good slider is necessary in general, Martin will be throwing a different version of it on Saturday after workshopping it in his most recent bullpen session.
"More gyro, a little more vert, a little less horizontal, but a lot more velocity," said pitching coach Ethan Katz of the new offering. "He just got very sweepy with his slider. In the past he generated more whiff, more chase. Right now it's popping more than we've liked and it's like a 10 percent chase pitch right now, which is not typically what it's been. We'll see what these numbers come out today but it's going to be harder, and it was much more consistent in his bullpen getting down and away. Where as before he would throw great sliders and then he'd throw that one mistake one where it's like 'Dang, how does that happen?' We'll see today. It should be exciting."
⚙️⚙️⚙️
Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez was a late scratch from the lineup with right hand inflammation. Victor Caratini will DH in his place and the switch-hitter will serve as the Astros' only left-handed batter. Where as the White Sox will be able to throw lefties Andrew Benintendi, Joshua Palacios, Matt Thaiss and Brooks Baldwin at Hunter Brown.
ADVANTAGE: Let's just hope everyone has a safe and fun time out there.
First pitch: White Sox vs. Astros
TV: CHSN
Radio: ESPN 1000 AM, WTRO 1200 AM
Lineups:
| Astros | White Sox | |
|---|---|---|
| Jeremy Peña, SS | 1 | Chase Meidroth, SS |
| José Altuve, LF | 2 | Miguel Vargas, 3B |
| Isaac Paredes, 3B | 3 | Andrew Benintendi, LF |
| Christian Walker, 1B | 4 | Luis Robert Jr., DH |
| Yainer Díaz, C | 5 | Joshua Palacios, RF |
| Victor Caratini, DH | 6 | Andrew Vaughn, 1B |
| Zach Dezenzo, RF | 7 | Matt Thaiss, C |
| Brendan Rodgers, 2B | 8 | Lenyn Sosa, 2B |
| Jake Meyers, CF | 9 | Brooks Baldwin, CF |
| Hunter Brown | SP | Davis Martin |
