Indians carry winning streak into Toronto to face Blue Jays: Series Preview

Game Four: July 3 – 1:07 pm ET

Corey Kluber (8-7, 3.50 ERA, 2.79 FIP) vs.
JA Happ (10-3, 3.70 ERA, 4.49 FIP)

Happ’s underwhelming peripherals are starting to catch up to him a little bit as we’ve seen that ERA rise as of late, but I don’t think anyone would be complaining if he can keep it in the 3.70 – 3.90 range for the duration of the year. However, I think this is another tough matchup for the Jays.

Corey Kluber hasn’t been as dominant since his 2014 Cy Young season, but he is absolutely still one of the top pitchers in the AL. His K/9 has fallen from 10.27 in 2014 to 9.93 in 2015 and 8.95 this year, but his walk rate has remained elite, and his soft contact rate is actually higher right now than what it was in 2014.

He’s definitely declining with age here, but there’s no questioning he still has very good stuff. Since 2014, his fourseam and sinker velocity has dropped over an mph, but his repertoire is still excellent. His cutter is a borderline slider due to its nasty movement, and his slider is one of the best in the game.

He’ll also flash a change to lefties and he’ll run his fastball into the mid 90’s when he needs to. He’s getting whiff rates of 25.87%, 24.55%, and 15.32% with his slider, change and cutter, and he can use all three to get swing and misses in a variety of situations.

Next: Listen: Jays Nest Podcast ep. 80! JB, EE, pitching

Like I said, he’s definitely not the pitcher he was in 2014, but he can’t be overlooked when discussing the best pitchers in the AL. With himself, Carrasco and Bauer all taking the hill against the Jays in this series, the Jays offence will most definitely have to be on their game this weekend.