Major League Baseball

Daily MLB pitcher duels: April 9

Published Apr. 9, 2015 12:57 p.m. ET

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One day after seeing all 30 teams in action for the first time this season, the Thursday slate is scaled way back, as just 18 teams are in action. As you might expect, as we move down teams’ respective rotations, the matchups are a bit less enticing. There are still a few really interesting ones here, however.

Matt Harvey (NYM) vs. Stephen Strasburg (WAS)

1:05 PM ET

This is the matchup today, and that both teams are putting out such solid starters at this point in each their respective first trip through the rotation speaks to the depth that each team has. Harvey did not pitch at all in 2014 thanks to Tommy John surgery in late October of 2013, and is making his first big league start since going under the knife.

It’s essentially a flip-flop for Harvey and Zack Wheeler, who is also a big-time prospect who underwent Tommy John surgery last month. That sort of blow would be crippling to most teams, but the Mets are rife with depth in the pitching ranks in the minors. That isn’t to say it isn’t a crushing blow, but that the Mets have other pitchers to cushion it.

The most important things to watch in Harvey’s debut will be velocity and stuff—two things he had a lot of in 2013. That season, Harvey threw the four-seamer almost exclusively, and averaged 95.4 mph on it via PITCHf/x. Nobody else threw harder. Harvey’s preferred secondary offering was a slider, but pretty much everything he threw was great that season. Only the two-seam fastball—which he threw just 58 times—had a whiff rate below 11 percent. Gas plus electricity gets the job done; how much will Harvey have right out of the gates?

The second-hardest thrower in 2013 to Harvey was his mound opponent on this fine Thursday. Strasburg averaged 95.2 mph on his fastball, and followed it up last year with a 94.7. For whatever reason, Strasburg has still drawn the ire from a bunch of fans who clamor about how bad or overrated he is, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Through parts of five seasons, Strasburg has a 3.02 ERA, 10.3 K/9, a 1.09 WHIP and a 2.84 FIP. That’s the sort of ridiculousness that most teams would kill to have as an ace, let alone a pitcher making the third start of the season.

Strasburg not only led the National League with 242 strikeouts last year—something many would expect with his kind of stuff—but he also led the league with 34 starts. Not only is that the first time he’s made more than 30 starts, but it’s also the first time he went over 200 innings. For a guy with durability concerns early in his career—the Nationals shut him down in a playoff race, for crying out loud—he’s come a long way. Oh and by the way, he’ll be a free agent after next year.

Daniel Norris (TOR) vs. CC Sabathia (NYY)

7:05 PM ET

Admittedly the level of intrigue here is probably limited to just me, but this should be a decent matchup between a pair of AL East lefties. Norris is probably better known for a spring training piece about how he lives out of his van, but that shouldn’t overshadow that the left-hander is among Toronto’s best prospects. Norris is making just his second career start, but a combination of his spring stats—4–0, 2.93 ERA, 9.8 K/9—and Toronto’s need to fill Marcus Stroman’s role have expectations for the 21-year-old lefty through the roof.

Norris’ counterpart is probably the most accomplished left-hander in the game. However, Sabathia is coming off back-to-back off years—one where he was healthy, one where he wasn’t—and needs to reinvent himself in his mid-30s with diminished health and stuff. Gone are the years where Sabathia could reach back for mid-90s heat; last year, his average four-seamer was just 89.6 mph. He’s owed $23 million this year, $25 million next, and has a $25 million option that can vest ($5 million buyout) based on health for 2017. The Yankees are definitely looking for some answers here.

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