This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the field from the perspective of the informed outsider.
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"The Astros’ ability to hit fastballs hasn’t bothered the Mariners yet, though. The Mariners have held them to a .211/.252/.341 line and just 2.7 runs per game. The Astros have the third-best contact rate in baseball, at 19.8%, and the third-best K/BB in the game at 2.2. Against the Mariners, they strike out more (21%) and have drawn just 16 walks in the ten games. The Mariners’ power right-handed pitching has erased the Astros’ right-handed hitters; of the group, only Jose Altuve has an OBP above .278. This has not been a good matchup for the Astros. We’re just shy of a year removed, remember, from almost the same Mariners staff shutting out almost the same Astros lineup for 17 innings in an elimination game."