MIAMI — San Francisco Giants rookie left-hander Andrew Suarez will celebrate a homecoming on Wednesday night when he faces the Miami Marlins for the first
time.
Suarez
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trip.
“I will probably cherish the moment while I’m warming up,” Suarez told the Sun-Sentinel. “But once I step on the mound, it’s game time.”
The 25-year-old is 2-4 with a 5.06 ERA in nine starts this season. His slider eats up lefty batters, holding them to a .208 batting average with one homer and
a .562 OPS. Righty batters are hitting .303 with seven homers and an .870 OPS,
however.
Suarez was the Giants’ second-round pick in 2015. He started this season as the Giants’ No. 10 prospect overall and No. 2 among lefties. Some scouts had
projected him as a two-pitch reliever with his fastball-slider mix. But, largely
due to injuries to Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija, Suarez
is getting his shot in the rotation.
So far, the Giants are 3-6 when Suarez starts
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Suarez has two quality starts this year — both of them at home. In five road starts this year, Suarez is 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA.
The Marlins will counter Suarez with another rookie left-hander, Caleb Smith (5-6, 3.70 ERA), who made his major league debut last year on July 17 with the
New York Yankees.
This will be the 16th major league start for Smith, 26, who leads National League rookies with 79 strikeouts. In his 13 starts this season, he is averaging
10.8 strikeouts per nine innings, which is improved from his 8.7 stat line of
2017. His walk rate of 4.1 is high but yet improved from his 4.8 figure of last
year.
But perhaps the biggest improvement for Smith has been cutting his hits per nine innings from 10.1 to 6.6.
The Marlins are 6-7 when they hand the ball to Smith, who has four quality starts this season. In addition
Dominique Easley Jersey , the Marlins have won three of the past four Smith starts. Smith has pitched well at Marlins Park, going 2-2 with a 2.90 ERA in six
starts. That compares well to his 3-4, 4.41 mark on the road.
Over his past seven starts, Smith — who has never faced the Giants — is 4-3 with a 3.16 ERA.
Neither Suarez (92.1 mph) or Smith (92.7 mph) is overpowering in terms of their average velocity. But Suarez, with plus control and a plus slider,
distinguished himself in the minors, going 10-10 with a 3.21 ERA last year
between Double A and Triple A.
That success helped earn him a shot at the majors, and now he gets to pitch in front of his home crowd.
“Being able to pitch against the Marlins should be fun,” Suarez said. “I’ve been watching the Marlins since I was little.”
Suarez will be trying to stop the Giants’ two-game losing streak. Miami has won the first two games of this series, including Tuesday’s 3-1 victory in which
four Marlins pitchers held the Giants to three hits.
Marlins shortstop JT Riddle had the go-ahead hit
Josh Shaw Jersey , a two-run double, and second baseman Starlin Castro went 2-for-4 with one RBI.
Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford, who entered this series red hot, has gone 0-for-6 with two RBIs in the two games. He is still hitting an impressive
.329.
It remains to be seen whether the looming suspension of Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston compels the team to release him. While that’s still
an unlikely outcome (the NFL’s specific findings against Winston will become a
major factor, along with the possibility of further unexpected developments),
it’s safe to say that the suspension will become relevant to whether the Bucs
make Winston the first quarterback ever drafted by the team to get a second
contract.
Which means that the Bucs could decide to move on from Winston after the 2018 season, especially if the Bucs move on from G.M. Jason Licht and/or coach Dirk
Koetter. Indeed, a new regime would be untethered to Winston, and it would be
much easier for someone with no ties to him to make a detached, unbiased
decision about Winston’s future than Licht and Koetter.
But here’s the risk for the Bucs
Josh Allen Jersey , if they choose to kick the can until after the 2018 season and to decide on whether to keep Winston before his $20.9 million base
salary for 2019 becomes fully guaranteed in March. Because the money is
guaranteed for injury in 2018, and because the guarantees applicable to the
fifth-year option don’t evaporate due to a suspension, the Bucs will be on the
hook for the full $20.9 million if Winston suffers an injury during the 2018
season that keeps him from passing a physical before the amount becomes fully
guaranteed in March.
The Jaguars welcomed that risk in 2017 with Blake Bortles. Washington refused to do so in 2015 with Robert Griffin III, putting him on ice for the entire
season. While the risk of owing Winston $20.9 million next year likely won’t be
a deciding factor on the question of whether to cut him, it could become
relevant to the analysis if the specific findings the NFL makes against Winston
create enough of an outcry to make it a close question.
In other words, if the NFL paints an ugly picture about Winston’s interactions with the Uber driver and/or if other unsavory witnesses have
unflattering things to say about Winston, the ability to sidestep a $20.9
million gamble could be enough to get the Bucs to make a decision driven by
principle, not by winning.
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