The New York Yankees are looking to put their horrendous homestand behind them as they travel to Arlington to take on the Texas Rangers.
By Christian Kouroupakis
Their opponent is in a similar boat as the Rangers were outscored 13-4 during the three-game sweep by the Chicago White Sox over the weekend. Their offense that batted .198 looks just as, if not more anemic than New York’s.
Despite their weekend struggles, the Rangers own a four-game winning streak at Globe Life Park. During that stretch, Texas’ hitters are batting .346 while outscoring opponents 24-14.
That’s not the greatest news for a Yankee rotation that finds itself ranked third to last with a 5.14 ERA. Batters also bat .290 (second-worst in AL) and have clubbed 16 home runs (tied for worst in AL) off Yankee pitching.
Michael Pineda was the latest to disappoint after he surrendered seven earned runs including three home runs to the Tampa Bay Rays in Sunday’s 8-1 loss.
The series in the lone star state is expected to be filled with offensive production as both rotations are struggling to put away hitters. Here’s your full preview of the series between the Rangers and Yankees.
Pitching Matchups:
Nathan Eovaldi (0-2, 6.11 ERA) vs. Cesar Ramos (2016 Debut)
Nasty Nate will take the ball in game one for New York coming off his first quality start of 2016. On Wednesday, the righty allowed three runs and eight hits while striking out seven in six innings of work during the 5-2 loss to the Oakland Athletics.
Ramos is a journeyman left-hander that has only started ten games but has 251 relief appearances under his belt in over seven years in baseball.
For the Los Angeles Angels in 2015, Ramos went 2-1 with a 2.75 ERA in 65 outings of relief. He was 0-1 with a 3.18 ERA in three starts in the minors this year and owns a 5.57 ERA in 19 games (one start) against the Bombers.
Luis Severino (0-2, 4.86 ERA) vs AJ Griffin (2-0, 3.18 ERA)
The 22-year-old “future ace” will be squaring off against Texas for the first time in his young career. Severino, who struggled mightily in his first two starts, is on a quest to build on his best outing of the season when he pitched six innings of two-run baseball against the A’s last week.
The Yankees will catch a break, for once, and not face a lefty. Griffin, a right-hander, is nevertheless not an easy task.
He is off to solid start to 2016 as he is holding opponents to a .203 average (.129 against righties) and holds the opposition to a .143 average when runners are in scoring position. Certainly not good news for a team that ranks near the bottom of the league in that category (.194 BA).
Griffin is also 2-0 with a 3.12 ERA in three career starts against the Yankees.
CC Sabathia (1-1, 5.28 ERA) vs Martin Perez (0-2, 4.50)
Big CC will take the mound to wrap up the Yankees’ series against the Rangers.
Sabathia is looking to go deeper into games following two outings in which he failed to make it out of the fifth inning.The lefty is still looking to channel the stuff he had in his quality start against the Detroit Tigers back on April 9th.
Perez is on a mission for his first victory of 2016. Back in July, he allowed eight runs in one inning of work against the Yankees at home. Since that porous start, Perez is 3-0 with a 2.31 ERA at home.
Key To A Series Win:
Hit Left Handed Pitching:
It has gotten to the point where teams will just throw all their lefties at the Yankees because they are absolutely inept at hitting southpaws.
The Yankee offense is 29th in all of major league baseball with a .291 slugging percentage and 27th with an OPS of .609 against left-handed pitching.
Although the Bombers did take two out of three against three left-handed starters this weekend, they only scored a six runs against starters over the 18.2 innings they pitched.
Although they’re baffled and can’t quite wrap their heads around the issue, they’ll have to figure it out soon. Especially with David Price being the probable starter on Sunday Night Baseball next week.
Players To Watch:
Prince Fielder
The Rangers slugger has a career .323 hitter with 26 RBIs in 26 meetings against the New York Yankees in his career. A year ago, Fielder went 10-for-28 with three homers and 10 RBIs in seven games against New York.
Mark Teixeira
Last season, Teixeira owned his former team. In 26 at-bats, he smashed three home runs, drove in four RBI and slashed .269/.367/.615 with a staggering OPS of .982. Against Ramos, the game one starter, Teixeira owns a .444 batting average in nine at-bats against him.
Didi Gregorius
Didi hits better in Arlington than he does in any other ballpark in his career.
In six games at Globe Life Park, Gregorius has a .522/.560/.739 slash line with one home run and seven RBI. He set his career high with four RBI including a had a bases-loaded triple in the 11-run second inning during the Yankees 21-5 victory in Texas a year ago.
Game Times:
- Game 1: Monday, 8:05 PM ET, YES/ESPN
- Game 2: Tuesday, 8:05 PM ET, YES
- Game 3: Wednesday: 8:05 PM ET, YES
Injury Notes:
Yankees
- Alex Rodriguez: left oblique stiffness [day-to-day, MRI Negative]
- Aaron Hicks: traumatic bursitis of left shoulder [day-to-day]
Rangers
- Cole Hamels: groin strain [day-to-day]
- Keone Kela: right elbow impingement [15-day DL]
- Shin-Soo Choo: right calf strain [15-day DL]
- Josh Hamilton: left knee [15-day DL]
Bold Predictions:
Didi Gregorius records an RBI in every game this series, Prince Fielder hits at least two home runs, and there will be a combined 30 runs scored in this three-game set.