Series Preview: New York Yankees @ Texas Rangers (5/21-5/23)
Eight is great, but the first place New York Yankees will
look for their ninth straight series win, as they head into Texas to take on
the struggling last place Texas Rangers.
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| Photo Credit: Charlie Riedel | AP |
Masahiro Tanaka (4-2, 4.37 ERA) vs.
Bartolo Colon (2-1, 2.82 ERA)
TV: WPIX 11, MLB Network
Masahiro Tanaka looks to ride the ship from his previous two
starts. Against Boston and in a
shortened outing against Washington, the right hander gave up 12 hits,
seven runs (three of which have been home runs) in only 10.1 IP. In his three starts before this patch, he had
only given up five runs in 18.2 innings against playoff contenders like Houston,
Anaheim, and Minnesota. He
will be facing an injury plagued Texas Rangers team who offensively aren’t the
same as last season. In two starts last
season, he only gave up seven runs against a then potent lineup. However, all
of those seven runs came in one game in Texas, one in which he only lasted four
innings. Which Tanaka will show up on Monday? We will wait and see.
Batters to watch out for:
Shin- Soo- Choo: 5-12, .417, 1 RBI
Robinson Chirinos: 4-8, .500,1 2B, 1
RBI
Delino DeShields: 3-6, .500 1 2B, 2
RBI
Coming off an impressive start in which he had 7.2 IP of
shutout baseball against Seattle, the man who never seems to age, Bartolo Colon
will take the mound for the Texas Rangers.
Not only was his last start impressive, he is 2-1 with a 3.04 ERA in his
last four starts. However, in his first
start in May against Boston at home, he gave up four runs, all via the long
ball. The Bronx Bombers could tee up
against the 44-year-old righty, as Colon has a lifetime line of 6-9, 6.11 ERA
in 20 career starts against them.
Batters to watch out for:
Giancarlo Stanton: 6-16, .375, 2 HR, 5 RBI
Gary Sanchez: 3-8, .375, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Neil Walker: 4-13, .308, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Game 2 Tuesday,
May 22nd First Pitch 8:05 PM ET
Domingo Germán (0-1, 4.26 ERA) vs
Cole Hamels (2-4, 3.48 ERA)
TV: YES
The highest of highs, and the lowest of lows so far in a
short time frame for the rookie Germán. After
taking over for an injured Monty against Houston (providing four innings of
scoreless baseball), he would get his first career start against Cleveland. In
that start he had a no-hit bid for six scoreless innings. With a career high 84
pitches, and not wanting to extend him past those six innings, the Yankees took
him out of the game to preserve the rookie. The Yankees were looking for more
of the same in his next start, unfortunately, he didn't do so as he allowed six runs, six hits, in only five innings pitched, only reaching 74 pitches.
Germán will be making his first career road start in this matchup against the
Texas Rangers. How Domingo responds will
be a sure sign if they try and make a bid for a starter, possibly his
countermate in this matchup, Mr. Hamels.
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| Photo Credit: Ed Zurga | Getty Images |
As previously stated, going for the Rangers will be Cole
Hamels. Scratched from his previous start, due to neck stiffness, the lefty
will look to put another impressive outing against playoff caliber teams. In his prior three starts, he has only given
up three runs in 17 IP, against Boston, Cleveland, and Houston. But, with the lack of offensive support,
partly due to injuries, he has only one win to show for it. With the Rangers playoff hopes all but dead,
Hamels if he continues to pitch the way he has, will hope to be the 2018 version of
Justin Verlander for some hopeful team.
Due to injury, Hamels did not have a start against the Yankees last
season.
Batters to watch out for:
Didi Gregorius: 4-8, .500, 2 2B.
Giancarlo Stanton: 13-51, .255, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 3 2B, 1 3B
Game 3 Wednesday
May 23rd, 7:05 PM ET
C.C. Sabathia (2-1, 2.40 ERA) vs.
Doug Fister (1-4, 3.43 ERA)
TV: YES
After starting the season strong, the veteran left hander
has struggled in his last two starts.
He’s given up eight runs in only nine innings pitched. In fact in his last outing against KC, he
threw 99 pitches in five innings, and 79 pitches in only four innings against
Boston before that. In the three starts
before those back to back poor outings, he averaged 85 pitches in 6 IP. He did not record a start against them in
2017, but in 2016 he was 0-1 while giving up nine runs in 13 IP. He could
benefit with Adrian Beltre still on the DL, who is 12-41, .293, 2 HR, 9 RBI
against CC.
Batters to watch out for:
Shin- Soo, Choo: 6-21, .286, 1 HR, 2
RBI
Delino DeShields: 3-7, .429
Going for the Rangers will be Doug Fister. Fister filled in nicely on Thursday for
Hamels, going seven while not surrendering a run. He didn’t allow a walk and
stranded six base runners. He is
looking to get his first win since his first start, which was way back on March
30. In two starts against the Yankees while with Boston, he was 1-1 in 9.2 IP,
and allowed four earned runs.
Batters to watch out for:
Neil Walker: 4-14, .286, 1 RBI
Aaron Hicks: 1-3, .333, 1 3B, 1 RBI
Giancarlo Stanton: 2-3, .667
Players to watch
Yankees
Neil Walker
With playing time bound to diminish once Bird gets the call,
look for Walker to put up good numbers in this series. With good lifetime numbers against the two
righties, he could have himself a good series, and cement his mark on the big
league roster. In his last four games,
he is 6-19, with 3 RBI, 3 R, and 2 2B.
We saw how well the pressure worked for Hicks with Frazier being called
up, the Bird watch could further help Walker’s production in this series.
Tyler Austin
The other player who could see his playing time diminish, or
even get sent down, is Tyler Austin. When
Greg Bird went down before the start of the season, no one could have expected
the production Mr. Austin would provide.
After having a .290 batting average and five home runs to end the month
of April, he would go on a slump which saw his average drop to .222. However, in his last six games, he is 6-21, 3
HR, 7 RBI; raising his season average to .261. Providing a solid right-handed bat
off the bench that can drive the ball will be intriguing, if Austin has himself
an impressive series against Hamels and the Rangers.
Didi Gregorius
Yes, Didi Gregorius.
After winning the player of the month last month, Didi has gone
missing. He was benched after going
16-87 in his last 21 games, with a horrid 1-42 stat line in his last 42 plate
appearances. Boone gave shortstop the
weekend off in Kansas City, with hopes of easing his mind through this
slump. He will return to the starting
lineup Monday against the Rangers, where he has .286 batting average against
Colon and .500 batting average against the tough left-hander Hamels. It is only a matter of time, before Sir Didi
returns back to form.
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| Photo Credit: Kathy Willens | AP |
Rangers
Cole Hamels
With the team looking forward to the future, Yankees fans
will want to pay close attention to Hamels’ start on Tuesday. If he can put up another impressive outing
against a playoff caliber team, the Bombers might start making phone calls for
the veteran lefty. He is only guaranteed
to be under team control for this season, with a club buyout option set at six
million. However, the 2019 option is
guaranteed if two things happen. First, he has to have 400 IP in 2017-18,
including 200 IP in 2018, and the second thing for him is to not land on the
disabled list with a shoulder or elbow injury at the end of the 2018
season. The veteran missed his last
start due to neck stiffness.
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| Photo Credit: Bob Levey | Getty Images |
This should be series win number nine, with their true test
coming in game two vs the Texas ace Cole Hamels. Look for a lot of homeruns by the Bombers in
game one, as Colon has been known to give up the long ball vs the Yankees, and
the fact it is a hitter friendly park.
With Greg Bird arriving to the club shortly, this will likely be the
last series with this current offensive output.
Article by: Andrew Rohloff
Follow @RocknRolloffFollow @BronxBomberBall
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