Baseball Press presents "The 606", a look at the most intriguing pitching matchup of the day, with a final prediction of the winning pitcher. You may be asking yourself "What exactly does The 606 mean? There's no major league baseball for that area code- it's in Eastern Kentucky!" BBP isn't listing players from Eastern Kentucky either. The 606 is short for 60 feet and 6 inches. If you still don't understand, I direct your attention to Official Rule 1.07 from Major League Baseball, referring to the distance from the pitching mound to home plate. Now that we've got that squared away, let's take a look at today's featured pitching matchup for Monday, September 6th.
Yesterday, C.J. Wilson and Rangers couldn't avoid the sweep, as Nick Blackburn and the Twins improved to 6-0 at home against the Rangers this season.
Loss: C.J. Wilson (5.1 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, 2.06 WHIP)
The 606 Season-to-Date Record (W-L-ND): 103-89-63, 3.73 ERA (660 ER in 1593.1 IP)
Mad-Bum and the Giants look to beat Ian Kennedy and the D-backs (AP)In today's 606, it's an NL West division rivalry as the Giants and Diamondbacks send their young stars to hill, as they look to build for next season.
LHP Madison Bumgarner - SFG (5-4 3.76 ERA) vs. RHP Ian Kennedy - ARI (9-9, 4.20 ERA)
21-year old lefty Madison Bumgarner
is 4-2 with a 4.11 ERA over his past ten starts. At home this season, Mad-Bum is 0-2 with a 5.24 ERA over six starts, but on the road, he's 5-2 with a 2.62 ERA over seven starts. Coming into the 2010 season, Bumgarner was expected to be one of best young pitching prospects in the Majors, but as Spring Training went on, Bumgarner simply didn't have his mid-90's fastball he was associated to. After starting the season in the Minors and going 7-1 with a 3.16 ERA at Triple-A over 14 starts, Bumgarner returned to the Majors with an increased velocity on his pitches. During the month of July, Madison went 4-2 with a 2.27 ERA over six starts, which included a 7.0 strikeout per nine inning ratio (K/9). Bumgarner features a fastball, slider, curveball, and change-up as part of his pitching arsenal. His slide piece is still developing, but it is above-average as we speak. Bumgarner has thrown his slider at a 19.6% frequency this season, with 66% of the sliders being strikes. He's also gotten hitters to swing 50.4% of the time at his slider with a 8.9% whiff-rate. Against the Diamondbacks this season, Bumgarner is 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA and seven strikeouts. Against left-handed pitching this season, the D-backs have a stat line of .257/.345/.442 with 45 home runs.
Ian Kennedy
has put together a solid season during his full season at the Major League level. Despite the W-L record, Kennedy has posted terrific strikeout and walk numbers. Over his 27 starts this season, Kennedy has a 7.9 K/9 ratio, a 1.3 HR/9 (even while playing at Chase Field in AZ), and a 3.3 BB/9. During the month of August, Kennedy posted a 3-1 record with a 4.00 ERA, striking out 8.5 per nine innings, and allowing just three home runs over 36 innings. Against the Giants this season, Kennedy is 1-1 over three starts with a 3.05 ERA, a 1.11 WHIP, and a 9.1 K/9 ratio. At home this season, Ian is 4-4 with a 3.95 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP.
Final Prediction: Madison Bumgarner