watch for it

It is with great anticipation that we should watch what Kendall Graveman does tonight in his third start of the season for Oakland. The ex-Mississippi State standout, who is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA, faces Houston’s loaded lineup at Oakland Coliseum. Graveman, the A’s opening day starter, has beaten the Los Angeles Angels and Texas, limiting hitters to a .178 average. He has 12 strikeouts in 13 innings. And he’s done it with essentially one pitch: the fastball. As si.com reports: “Through his first two starts of 2017, a jarring 87.8% of Graveman’s pitches have been sinkers. Even that figure doesn’t tell the whole story though. All but 1% of his pitches have been sinkers … or four-seam fastballs and cutters.” Can he beat the Astros that way? P.S. Also watch for T.J. House’s second outing of the year for Triple-A Buffalo on Saturday. The left-hander out of Picayune High was struck in the head by a batted ball in spring training with Toronto (see previous posts) and was on the shelf for several weeks. House threw five shutout innings in his first start on Monday. He has a 4.44 ERA in 27 career MLB appearances, all with Cleveland.