Some recent hiccups have caused the New York Yankees to lose ground in the AL East and they’re now in a virtual tie atop the division as they return home to host the Los Angeles Angels in a best of three series. The Angels took two of three from New York last week, but the Yankees have proven to be a far superior team at home, going 22-9 in the Bronx. They’ll hope some home cooking can get them back in the win column during this series.
This series will be contested from Tuesday, June 20, 2017 through Thursday, June 22, 2017 at Yankee Stadium in New York. Both Tuesday and Wednesday’s games will be broadcast on MLB Network for those outside the local markets.
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Pitching Matchups
Michael Pineda will get a rematch against the Angels after giving up five runs on 10 hits over six innings against them his last time out.
Pineda is having a strong season so far with a 7-3 record, 3.71 ERA and 1.185 WHIP over 77.2 innings, but he’s given up five runs in two of his last three starts. Interestingly, the one exception was the only home game where he went seven innings without allowing an earned run.
Much like the rest of the team, there’s a significant difference in his home numbers compared to his road numbers. Pineda is dominating at home with a 6-1 record and 1.96 ERA. He’s 1-2 with a 6.25 ERA on the road.
Fortunately for the Yankees, he’ll get his rematch against the Angels at home.
Last time out, Pineda dueled Matt Shoemaker. It is Shoemaker’s turn in the rotation again, but due to injury, it’ll be Parker Bridwell getting the start.
The 25-year old Bridwell made his major league debut last year, getting into two games for the Orioles, allowing five runs on five hits and allowing a pair of homers in 3.1 innings.
This will be just his third appearance of the year for the Angels and his second start. He’s already given up a pair of homers again in 2017 though he’s tripled the innings count with 9.2 innings.
His last time out, he took over for Shoemaker in the same game Pineda threw and went 3.2 innings, allowing just one unearned run. He did give up seven hits, but was able to avoid any damage. Will he be so lucky this time with the Yankees at home and fully prepared to face him?
After Pineda and Bridwell open the series, the next two games will feature a youngster for the Yankees and a veteran arm for the Angels.
On Wednesday, Ricky Nolasco takes the hill for Los Angeles against Jordan Montgomery for the Yankees. Then, it’s Jesse Chavez opposite Luis Severino.
The two youngsters for the Yankees have done well so far. Montgomery is 4-4 with a 3.78 ERA and 1.246 WHIP. Severino is 5-2 with a team leading 2.99 ERA and 1.045 WHIP.
Both have done well avoiding the long ball and Severino has really improved his command. He has a 4.09 strikeout to walk ratio with 10 Ks per nine innings and just 2.4 walks per nine. He’s made huge strides after a disappointing 2016 and once again looks like a top young starter.
Severino’s last start wasn’t his best. He gave up four runs in six innings, but before that he had gone five straight without allowing more than two runs. He’s also becoming more and more pitch efficient.
As for the Angels’ hurlers, both Nolasco and Chavez are giving up a lot of hits and a ton of home runs. That’s dangerous against the Yankees, especially with the short porch in right-field.
Nolasco is 2-8 with a 5.01 ERA and has allowed 21 homers in 79 innings. Chavez is 5-7 with a 4.85 ERA, giving up 18 bombs in 81.2 innings.
Betting Trends
The Yankees’ recent west coast swing did not go well. New York wrapped up the seven-game road trip going 1-6 and have now lost six straight. That completely negated a six game winning streak against the Reds Sox and Orioles immediately preceding the recent swoon.
New York is now neck and neck with Boston in the AL East after losing their way. Despite the struggles, this is still one of the only teams in baseball to have yet to be shutout. The offense is still dynamic even with a bit of a slowdown against Oakland over the weekend.
The Yankees’ opposition took two of three from New York last week, but then dropped three of four from the Royals over the weekend, now they will be the ones making the cross-country road trip and will kick it off in the Bronx.
Players to Watch
Yes, Aaron Judge is the headliner of this Yankees’ season. What he’s done is nothing short of remarkable.
Last year, Judge struck out half of his at bats, looked lost at the plate and had tons of holes in his swing. This year, he’s a different hitter. His strikeouts are way down—comparatively—he’s hitting .335 and has a .445 OBP and .699 slugging. He’s a true Triple Crown contender at this point in the year.
That’s all amazing, but if we harken back to last year, the storyline was all about Gary Sanchez, doing much the same thing.
Sanchez got off to a slow start this year and then got injured. He was slow coming back, but don’t look now, but the young backstop has been nearly as good as Judge in the month of June. Judge is hitting .354 with six homers and 16 RBIs. Sanchez is batting .327 with seven bombs and 21 driven in. His OBP is lower—and so is his OPS as a result—but Sanchez has been slugging.
Then, when you factor in Starlin Castro, Didi Gregorius and Aaron Hicks all batting over .300 this month with a combined 10 homers between them up the middle, the Yankees are undoubtedly blessed in the middle of the field.
As for the Angels, they’re reaping the benefits of moving Cameron Maybin into the leadoff spot. He’s got a .415 OBP in June and has eight steals in his last nine games. Kole Calhoun is finally heating up, too, helping to cover for the absence of Mike Trout. Calhoun is batting .359 in June with five homers and a 1.049 OPS.
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