WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RUBBY DE LA ROSA BEFORE HIS START

In less than an hour Rubby De La Rosa will be starting his first game as a member of the Boston Red Sox.

This will be his 11th career start. His previous 10 starts came in 2011 when he was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. Since then he had Tommy John surgery, was traded to the Red Sox, and played in 11 games for the Red Sox last season.



What you should expect in the game from De La Rosa this evening is a lot of fastballs and ground balls. Rubby typically throws his fastball between 94 and 97 miles per hour and has gotten clocked at close to 100.

He throws his changeup between 84 and 87 mph and a low to mid 80s slider. This season Rubby's ratio of ground balls to foul balls is 3 to 1. He has not given up a homerun, has walked 23 batters and recorded 52 strikeouts. He has a 3.04 ERA and batters are hitting 218 against him.

Opposing him will be Jake Odorizzi, not Jake from State Farm. This Jake is a right-handed pitcher who has played well against Boston in the past. In his last game against the Red Sox he pitched six innings giving up one run and recording five strikeouts. This season Jake has struggled on the road where he has given up three of his four homeruns and has a 6.29 ERA. This may be a good time to stretch some singles into doubles and really work on getting guys to second base. Why do I say that? Well when there is a guy at second base Jake's ERA balloons to 18 and his whip is 3.5.

I have a feeling that Sizemore is going to have a good night at the plate.

Red Sox Lineup

1. Holt 3B
2. Bogaerts SS
3. Pierzynski C
4. Ortiz DH
5. Carp 1B
6. Gomes LF
7. Sizemore RF
8. Bradley Jr. CF
9. Herrera 2B

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