Series Preview: New York Yankees @ Detroit Tigers (8/22-8/24)
The Wild Card leading Yankees
will head to Comerica Park Tuesday for a three-game matchup against the
mediocre Detroit Tigers following their series loss to the Boston Red Sox. The
series featured many highs and lows for the Yankees pitching staff, as they
took on a potent Boston offense which has been on fire recently. Thankfully,
the Tigers offense won’t be as much of a challenge to pitch against this
series, as they are currently sitting at a measly 54-69 and are 1-5 in their
last six games. With a lackluster opponent waiting, the Yankees should solidify
their postseason spot and possibly gain a few games on the Red Sox if they drop
a game or two against the AL Central leading Cleveland Indians.
Masahiro Tanaka (8-10 4.92 ERA) vs. Matthew Boyd (5-6
5.70 ERA)
TV: YES
Game one of the series will
take place on Tuesday and will feature a lackluster matchup with the shockingly
bad Masahiro Tanaka going up against the similarly lackluster Matthew Boyd, in
a duel of pitchers who both have been disappointing this season. Tanaka’s fall
from grace has been detrimental to the Yankees’ rotation depth, and he will
enter this start coming off the DL with shoulder issues, so not a ton should be
expected of him. However, in his last start against the Tigers, he pitched
solidly through six innings allowing only one run while striking out seven. If
Tanaka can produce a similar outing and receive a few runs from the offense in
their favorable matchup, the Yankees should easily handle this one.
GAME
TWO (Wednesday, August 23 | First Pitch: 7:10 PM ET)
Luis Severino (10-5 3.18 ERA) vs. Jordan Zimmerman
(7-10 5.87 ERA)
TV:
WPIX
Game two of the series on Wednesday
will feature a clearly favorable pitching matchup for the Yankees, with Luis
Severino on the hill for the Bombers and Jordan Zimmerman on the hill for the
Tigers. Other
than his one horrendous start against the Red Sox back in mid-August, Severino
has been consistently great for the Yankees as of late, and that shouldn’t stop
against the Detroit offense. As for Zimmerman, he’s given up seven runs in his
last two starts, but managed to stifle the Yankees offense back in early August
as he pitched seven shutout innings. If the Yankees are able to prove that
Zimmerman’s start was a fluke and Severino can pitch to his ability, this
should once again be a Yankees win.
GAME
THREE (Thursday, August 24 | First Pitch: 1:10 ET)
Jaime Garcia (5-8 4.52 ERA) vs Michael Fulmer (10-11
3.60 ERA)
TV: YES
The final game of the
three-game set on Friday will feature trade deadline acquisition Jaime Garcia
against last year’s AL Rookie of the Year in Michael Fulmer. Garcia has been
largely disappointing in pinstripes, but this could be the game for him to turn
it all around against the lowly Tigers. On the other side of the matchup,
Fulmer has been very inconsistent this season, and is currently on a five-game
streak of earning the loss in his starts. Fulmer has very solid stuff however,
and could prove to be an issue for the Yankees, especially if they need to
provide several runs to make up for a bad start by Garcia. This game could go
either way realistically, but the Yankees still should stand as the favorites
as long as Garcia keeps it close and Fulmer’s struggles continue.
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| Photo Credit: NY Daily News |
Players to Watch
Yankees
Masahiro
Tanaka
As mentioned above, this will
be Tanaka’s first start coming off of the DL with shoulder issues. Going into
his DL stint, Tanaka had been doing decently, giving up only four total earned
runs in his most recent three starts. One of those starts saw Tanaka pitch like
the ace he was in previous season, racking up fourteen strikeouts through eight
innings against Tampa Bay. While this start may have been almost a month ago,
it showed that Tanaka still has some of that ace magic in him. If he can bring
that magic out in his start Tuesday, it’ll be a great way to start the series.
Aaron
Judge
Judge enters this series with
his 37-game strikeout steak intact and his struggles still very still much
present. Since the All-Star Break, Judge has been in an insane slump which has
sent him from AL MVP favorite to lineup question mark. With favorable pitching
matchups this series, Judge should look to end his record breaking strikeout, which
could be a distracting factor in his slump. Look for him to hit some bombs and
hopefully lower the strikeouts.
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| Photo Credit: AP |
Aroldis
Chapman
Chapman has been a huge
question mark as of late, with recurring inconsistent performances plaguing his
resume. Many have recently called for his job as closer to be taken away from
him and to be replaced with either Betances or Kahnle. This series could be a
major determining factor on if Chapman holds on to the job or if someone else
takes the role, so keep an eye on late game situations and who Girardi turns
to.
Tigers
Miguel
Cabrera
The 2017 season hasn’t been
kind to the two time MVP and Triple Crown winner, as he’s having a very down
season by his standards. He has only 13 homeruns on the season, and he has yet
to hit one this month. This has been a major part of the Tigers disappointing
season, as their offense suffers tremendously without his threatening presence.
This could be huge for the Yankees pitching staff, but Cabrera still has high
impact hitting capabilities, so keep an eye on him as a big determining factor
for this series.
Matthew
Boyd
Boyd’s pitching will be big if
the Tigers hope to steal a game from the Yankees this series. He has largely
been unable to get very far into games, going past six innings only once in his
past ten appearances. These struggles may continue against the Yankees’ potent,
yet inconsistent, lineup, and if Boyd isn’t able to get deep into his start,
the Tigers will lose a game in which it’s possible for them to steal. A Boyd
loss could very well create an easy sweep for the Yankees.
Overall, this series should be
a 2-1 win or a sweep for the Yankees. New York is superior to the Tigers in
almost every facet and although they’re coming off a series loss, the Tigers
should be an easy bounce back opponent to reinforce the Wild Card lead. If the
Yankees lose this series, they could very well see their wild card lead dim and
fall back even further in the division race. This is an important series and
one the Yankees must take.
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