Blue Jays vs. Rangers: Full series preview and pitching matchups

Game 4:  Thursday, May 5th   –   7:07 ET

J.A. Happ (3-0, 2.76 ERA) vs.
Derek Holland (3-1, 2.48 ERA)

The series finale sees a pair of southpaws with sub-three ERAs face off as J.A. Happ and Derek Holland are scheduled to start.

Holland’s most recent memories of the Blue Jays, however, may not be so fond. In game four of the 2015 ALDS, Holland was shelled for six runs on five hits and a walk in just two innings. This included three home runs.

His one other outing against the Jays in 2015 came on August 25th, where he allowed four earned runs on seven hits over six innings. Not nearly as bad, but again, three home runs.

So far, though, the 2016 season has been rather kind to Holland, who has ridden a .227 opponent BABIP and lower-than-average home run rates to an early 2.48 ERA. In his most recent outing against the Angels he threw six innings of shutout ball, striking out one batter with zero walks. He has yet to allow more than five hits or three earned runs in a single start.

Next: Week 3 updates on the Blue Jays top pitching prospects

Toronto will counter with J.A. Happ, who’s already looking like an excellent piece of offseason business on his three-year, $36 million deal.

Though he’s allowed three earned runs in each of his last two starts, Happ has managed to take a quality start from each outing and has yet to fall short of the 6.0 IP mark. This is an especially impressive feat for Happ, who has never been mistaken for an innings-eater.

After Josh Thole works with Dickey in the opener, it will be interesting to see if Russell Martin (neck) is able to work all three games behind him. He and Happ have looked very comfortable mixing pitches together in their starts.