Today, the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays will square off in the first American League East clash for the Bombers in 2016.
By Christian Kouroupakis
The Yankees led the division by seven games prior to the trade deadline, but thanks to the acquisitions of Troy Tulowitzki and David Price, Toronto was able to go 42-18 to throw the Bombers in the back seat.
It was the largest blown division lead in Yankees’ history.
Today, on Tanaka Tuesday, the Yankees look to re-write the script and take the first series from the defending division champions.
New York, coming off a weather-shortened series split with the Detroit Tigers, have a tall task as they head to the hostile Rogers Centre to face baseball’s highest-scoring lineup over the last two seasons.
It should be an entertaining matchup between two American League powerhouses as their goals are exactly the same: win the World Series.
Pitching Matchups
Game 1: Masahiro Tanaka vs Aaron Sanchez
On the bump for the Yankees in Game 1 is Masahiro Tanaka, meaning we get to experience the second straight Tanaka Tuesday.
On Opening Day last week, New York’s ace surrendered two runs in 5.2 innings while striking out four against the Houston Astros. In two career starts at the Rogers Centre, the 27-year old Japanese Native is 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA.
Sanchez is coming off a stellar outing against the Tampa Bay Rays last Tuesday holding them to one run on five hits over seven innings of work.
Last year, Sanchez went 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA in six relief appearances against the Bombers.
Game 2: Michael Pineda vs J.A. Happ
The Yankees are very familiar with J.A. Happ, as this will be the tenth time they’ll be facing the lefty. New York has a .246/.315/.467 slash line against him including ten home runs.
Pineda is coming off a porous performance in which he got the win, but let up six earned runs in the process against the Houston Astros on Wednesday night.
Last season, Pineda owned a 2.79 ERA in three starts with 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings against Toronto.
Game 3: Nathan Eovaldi vs Marcus Stroman
Stroman is already considered one of the most dominant starters in all of baseball, but he got roughed up in his last outing against the Boston Red Sox.
In 5.1 innings, the 24-year old stud gave up five runs on six hits and walked three. Stroman does have success against the Yankees however, as he owns a 4-1 record with a 2.43 ERA in five career starts.
Like Pineda, Eovaldi is also coming off a rough start against the Astros as he surrendered two home runs across five innings pitched.
His first year in pinstripes was stellar, but the first outing of his second season in New York was a dud so he’ll hope to re-write the script against the Jays on Thursday.
Keys To A Series Win
Keep Up The Good Work
The Yankees’ bullpen currently leads all of major league baseball with a 1.04 ERA in 17.1 innings of work and it’s arguably the only reason why the Bombers have three wins.
Wait…. The Yankees’ bullpen has the lowest ERA and they still don’t have Aroldis Chapman yet? Looks like the best is yet to come but they still have to maintain their dominance until his return.
Ivan Nova was impressive in his first outing as a long reliever while newcomers Luis Cessa, Kirby Yates, and Johnny Barbato are forming a solid bridge to Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller.
As long as the starting pitching keeps getting chased out before the sixth inning, this unit will have to keep this success going if New York plans to win this series.
Follow The Leader
On Saturday, CC Sabathia became the first Yankees’ starter in 2016 to last six innings. That cannot continue to be the narrative as it not only drains the effectiveness of the bullpen, but the offense will be unable to continuously save them like they did in the opening series.
Coming into 2016, the rotation had the most question marks surrounding them and through the first five games, nothing has slowed down the questions.
Stay Hot
We’re only five games into 2016, but the Yankees lead the American League in scoring, on base percentage, and have the second most stolen bases.
New York’s epic lineup will not only help the squad outslug teams, but it will prove to be essential if the Yankees are going to carry leads into the seventh or eighth inning.
Of course, it comes back to starting pitching but if they can’t do the job of bridging the gap, the lineup certainly can.
Players To Watch
Carlos Beltran
Beltran has terrific numbers against every Blue Jays’ starting pitcher that will take the hill this series.
The 39-year old has a combined .286/.375/.657 slash line with four home runs against all three pitchers (Stroman, Sanchez, Happ) that will face him within the next three days.
One of those four home runs was a pinch-hit, go-ahead, three-run home run off tonight’s starter Aaron Sanchez to fuel the Yankees to a crucial win.
He’s also coming off a series in which he hit a long home run and is off to a hot start to 2016. Watch for him to continue his tear at the Rogers Centre tonight.
Edwin Encarnacion
This guy just loves hitting New York Yankee pitching.
In 106 career games against the Bombers, he has a .276/.349/.490 slashline along with 19 home runs including three in the last five games.
Against tonight’s starter (Tanaka), Encarnacion has a .500/.533/.857 slashline with one home run in 14 at bats against the Yankee ace.
Game Times, Predictions
- Game 1: Tuesday, 7:07 PM ET, YES
- Game 2: Wednesday, 7:07 PM ET, YES
- Game 3: Thursday, 7:07 PM ET, YES/MLB Network
Although the season just kicked off, this is the first big test for the 2016 New York Yankees.
Last year the Bombers had a 6-13 record and had a -29 run differential against their division rivals. So the question is: Can they put a halt to the unstoppable force that is the Blue Jays lineup?
Here’s the first chance for the new look Yanks to dethrone the champs and take control of the division that they have won more than any other team in it (18).
Bold Prediction:
Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, and Nathan Eovaldi will each pitch 6+ innings while holding the Blue Jays to three runs or less.