Series Preview: Yankees @ Astros (4/30-5/3)
The
Yankees will be traveling to Houston for a four-game set against the defending
World Champion Houston Astros, the first time the Bombers have visited Minute
Maid Park since Game 7 of the 2017 ALCS. It is the final series of New York’s
first mini West Coast trip. No one in baseball is playing hotter than the
Yankees, having won their last nine games, including a three-game sweep of the
Angels over the weekend. The Astros have started 2018 with a 19-10 record,
notching the best team ERA in the MLB (2.59). This series should be a fun one
to watch and will give Yankee fans a better indication on how legit this team
is.
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| Photo Credit: Getty Images |
Game 1: Monday, April 30th,
8:10pm
Sonny Gray (1-1, 7.71 ERA) vs Charlie
Morton (3-0, 1.86 ERA)
Sonny
Gray takes the bump for the Yankees in the series opener. In his five starts
this season, Gray has been no better than abysmal. He has one win to his
credit, the only start he qualified for a W all season. Four of his starts were
less than five innings long, including two where he could not get out of the
fourth. In three career starts for Gray in Minute Maid Park, he is 0-1 with a
5.28 ERA. This strong ‘Stros offense coupled with Sonny’s struggles could put the
Yanks in a precarious spot Monday night.
Batters to watch out for:
Jose
Altuve: 11-for-31, 10 singles.
On
the other hand, Charlie Morton has been fantastic this season. The veteran
right-hander is putting up the best numbers of his career through his first
five starts. He has gone at least six innings in four of his five starts,
including giving up 0 earned runs in three of them. On the bright side for the
Yanks, Morton suffered his worst outing of the year last Tuesday versus the
Angels. He gave up four runs in just four innings. Giancarlo Stanton’s career
mashing of Morton should hopefully put some doubt in his mind and allow others to
see some good pitches.
Batters to watch out for:
Giancarlo
Stanton: 9-for-18, 2 2B, HR.
Brett
Gardner: 3-for-8, 2B.
Game 2: Tuesday, May 1st,
8:10pm, MLBN
Jordan Montgomery (2-0, 3.76 ERA) vs
Justin Verlander (4-0, 1.36 ERA)
Young
lefty Jordan Montgomery will pitch Game 2 for the Bombers. The Yankees have won
four of his five starts this season, mostly due to stellar run support. He
hasn’t had a start yet without giving up a run, but he has managed to bring his
ERA down after two rough starts in early April. Montgomery faced Houston twice
last season, both ending in Yankees losses. Boone will hope Montgomery can
pitch into the sixth with few runs on the card.
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| Photo Credit: AP |
Batters to watch out for:
Carlos
Correa: 4-for-6, HR.
Since
coming to Houston during the 2017 trade deadline, Justin Verlander has only
lost one start (13-1), and that was in Game 6 of the World Series. He has been
everything Houston hoped for and then some. He faced the Yankees two times in
the 2017 ALCS, winning both games with dominate performances (Game 2: 9.0 IP, 1
ER, 13 K, Game 6: 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 8 K.). In his six starts this season, Verlander
has gone at least six innings in all but one. In his previous outing versus the
Angels, he went 7, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits. In his 13-year career, Verlander
is 6-7 against the Yankees.
Batters to watch out for:
Didi
Gregorius: 4-for-13, 2B, HR.
Game 3: Wednesday, May 2nd,
8:00pm, ESPN
Luis Severino (4-1, 2.61 ERA) vs Dallas
Keuchel (1-4, 4.00 ERA)
The
Yankees ace has pitched like it this season. Five of Sevy’s six starts this
season have been quality ones. His devastating slider has been filthy all year,
giving him a K/9 number that sits just below 10 (9.9). Though, in two career
regular season starts versus Houston, Severino has not fared well, not getting
out of the third in one and giving up six runs in the other. Let’s hope he
mirrors his hot form over the first month of the season.
Batters to watch out for:
Carlos
Correa: 5-for-7, 2 2B, HR, 3 BB.
The
2015 Cy Young award winner will look to add another win to his shaky early 2018
record. Dallas Keuchel has not necessarily had bad outings, as four of his
first six starts were quality ones, but he has run into various problems in
pretty much each game. Two starts with 4+ walks, one with three homeruns given up,
and FOUR where his team has given him just one tally for run support. Keuchel
has seen widespread success against the Yankees whether it be in the regular
season or postseason. He is 4-2 with a 1.41 ERA in six starts against the
Yankees in his career, averaging 7.5 punchouts per game in these outings. The
Yanks will look to duplicate what the A’s did to Keuchel last Friday (6 runs, 7
hits, 3 HR).
Batters to watch out for:
Austin
Romine: 2-for-3, 2B.
Game 4: Thursday, May 3rd,
2:10pm
Masahiro Tanaka (4-2, 4.37 ERA) vs Lance
McCullers Jr. (4-1, 3.71 ERA)
Masahiro
Tanaka will look to put up his third straight quality start in the final game
of this series. He is coming off back to back 6+inning starts giving up just
one run in each, bouncing back from two rough starts in the second week of
April. In four career outings against Houston, Tanaka is 0-2 with a 10.38 ERA,
4 points worse than his 28th best team ERA. He has been notoriously
bad against the Astros, including a 1.2 inning outing where he gave up 8 runs
in 2017. Let’s hope that splitter stays down on Thursday.
Batters to watch out for:
George
Springer: 6-for-17, 2 HR, 3 BB, 2B.
Carlos
Correa: 6-for-19, 2 HR, BB.
Jose
Altuve: 6-for-20, 2B, HR.
On
the other side, Lance McCullers will look to notch his fifth win of the season,
two shy of his 2017 total. The young righty has gotten at least seven runs from
his offense in four of his six starts this season. McCullers has relied a lot
on the strikeout this year. His sinker and curve are a deadly duo and could
pose a threat to some of the Yankees biggest mashers. McCullers is coming off
of a 7.0 IP, 0 ER performance. His career line against the Bombers (2-0, 2.08
ERA, 11.9 K/9) shows that this is not the best matchup for New York.
Batters to watch out for:
Didi
Gregorius: 5-for-12, 2B.
Brett
Gardner: 4-for-14, 2B.
Aaron
Judge: 3-for-8, 2B, HR, 2 BB.
Ronald
Torreyes: 2-for-2, 2B.
Players to Watch
Yankees:
Gary Sanchez
Gary
Sanchez has bounced back after a terrible start to his 2018 campaign. He is
batting .259 with 4 home runs and 11 RBIs over the past week. He has had two
game winning home runs, including an improbable walk-off against the Twins on
Thursday. With Sanchez now swinging the bat well, it is taking less pressure
off Judge and Stanton to produce. According to Alex Rodriguez, Sanchez “has
been seeing the ball like a grapefruit” lately. Look for this to continue in
Houston.
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| Photo Credit: AP |
Giancarlo Stanton
After
being heavily scrutinized early in the season about strikeout problems, Stanton
has been putting the ball in play more recently. He has 8 K’s in his last 7
games, not great, but improvement nonetheless. He was 10-for-28 (.357) last week
moving his average up to .239. All in all, if Stanton can hit home runs Yankees
fans will be content. He has only hit two since April 5th.
Didi Gregorius
What
more can be said about this guy? He has been an absolute stud all season,
leading the recent Yankee win streak while acquiring all sorts of accolades. He
is batting .357 with 10 RBIs over the last week, including a solo shot in the
tenth inning that proved to be the winner against the Angels Friday night. He
shows no signs of slowing down, expect him to have another good series at the
dish in Houston.
Astros:
Carlos Correa
So
far in his short career, Correa has been a Yankee killer. In 19 games versus
the Bombers, Correa is hitting .384 with six home runs and an OPS of 1.144. The
Yankees have just not had an answer for his special combination of power and
speed. He is hitting .320 with four home runs this season, but like most of the
Astros he has struggled over the past week. Look for Correa to be a difference
maker in this series.
Jose Altuve
The
5-foot 6-inch slugger has continued to dominate the MLB this year, posting a
.351 batting average with two homers and 15 RBIs in 29 games. His power numbers
are down from the previous two seasons, but both his home runs came in the past
four games. A turnaround is likely. Altuve is hitting .410 with those two
homers and 11 RBIs over his last 10, including a four-hit performance on
Saturday. Yankees pitchers will struggle with him all series.
Conclusion:
This
Yankee team is riding higher than any other ball squad in the Majors right now.
Winners of nine in a row, they will face their first true test of this win
streak. In a matchup of the 2017 ALCS, look for the Yankees to come out mad and
ready to win. Booney (can I call him that?) must do a good job of managing his
depleted bullpen in this series. Odds are both managers will be going their
early and often. With how hot the Yankees are, some may see a split as less
than ideal, but whenever you can come out of Houston even or up, it’s a win.
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