Detroit — As matchups on paper go, it would be hard to come up with one more one-sided than this: One of the premier fastball pitchers against by far the worst fastball hitting team in baseball.
Yankees’ starter Gerrit Cole came into the game Wednesday holding hitters to a .209 batting average against his 97-mph four-seam fastball. In terms of run value, as defined by Statcast, Cole’s heater is a plus-22, among the best in the game.
The Tigers’ conversely, have the game’s worst fastball run value, minus-65. The Athletics are next worst at minus-47.