The rivalry continues with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox kicking off their first head-to-head series of the year on Tuesday in Boston. The most storied rivalry in baseball has cooled off the last few years with the Yankees going into rebuilding mode, but these two teams are sitting within a half a game of each other here in the early going, setting things up for a fun and contentious mid-week series.
This series will be contested from Tuesday, April 25, 2017 through Thursday, April 27, 2017 at Fenway Park in Boston. The showdowns on Tuesday and Thursday will be shown live on MLB Network while Wednesday's clash will also be nationally televised, viewable live on ESPN.
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Pitching Matchups
The premiere pitching matchup for this series happens in Game 2 as Masahiro Tanaka and Chris Sale square off in the battle of the aces.
Prior to that, however, the Sox will throw Rick Porcello at the Bronx Bombers on Tuesday against Luis Severino while C.C. Sabathia will try and out duel Drew Pomeranz in Thursday’s series finale.
For the series opener, Luis Severino will try and improve his 4.05 ERA. He’s started three games, giving up 10 runs—nine earned. Those numbers are mediocre, but he’s only allowed 14 hits and walked two in 20 innings. That’s a good rate, giving Severino a 3.10 FIP, the best on the team.
Severino’s done a good job keeping base runners on the base paths, but he’s found a bit too much of the plate on occasion, too, giving up four home runs. The Sox certainly have the lineup to take advantage of some of those fat pitches out over the plate that he’s prone to give up.
As for Porcello, the reigning Cy Young Award winner hasn’t had nearly as strong a start to 2017. He’s been hittable, giving up 31 hits in 23.2 innings. He’s also given up 14 earned runs and four more unearned runs and is 1-2 in his first four starts. The righty, however, has always done well against the Yankees, pitching to a 7-5 record with a 3.28 ERA in 14 starts.
Skipping over to the third game of the series, Pomeranz pitched very well in his season debut, but his last two starts since then haven’t been good. He’s combined to go 9.2 innings, giving up seven runs on 10 hits and four walks though he has struck out 14 in that time. Sabathia has reinvented himself with his ‘lesser’ stuff. He was very good in his first three starts with the Yankees winning all three. His last start, on the other hand, hasn’t nearly as good. He gave up four runs to the Pirates in five innings.
Back to the Game 2 matchup, Tanaka is just now finding himself after a couple non-Tanaka-like outings to start the year. His last couple starts have been much better as he’s shown better command of the strike zone and better ability to limit base runners after really struggling with both in his first two starts.
Sale comes into action red hot. He’s dominating the opposition in a way the Sox fans haven’t seen since Pedro Martinez.
The ace southpaw is simply making the opposition look silly. He’s allowed just three runs on 15 hits and six walks in 29.2 innings spread over his four starts. Even more impressive, he’s struck out 42 batters already. That’s a 12.7 strikeout per nine innings ratio and a strikeout to walk ratio of seven. He dialed back on the Ks last year, looking to go deeper into games. He’s gone deep into his first four games, but the Ks are back, too.
Who's Hot?
A few days ago, the answer to this question was the entire Yankees’ team. After a 1-4 start, the team went on a run, winning eight in a row with all but one of those victories at home. They’re 2-3 since, however, and are back on the road where they’re 3-6, dropping each of their first three road series.
While the team as a whole has certainly cooled off, there are still some players who are scorching hot as they head into New England for the first time this year.
Aaron Judge has been great this year. He barely won the starting right-fielder job after striking out so much in his brief big league debut last year. He still strikes out plenty, but he’s also hit six home runs and driven in 13, leading New York in both categories. He looks relaxed at the plate and is seeing the ball really well. His .983 OPS is second on the team to Chase Headley.
The veteran third baseman is also playing well over his head. He hasn’t looked this good since his Padre days and is hitting .339 while supplying power and even some speed. All in all, the entire team other than Greg Bird and Brett Gardner have been swinging the bat well and they haven’t missed a beat even with Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius on the disabled list; Austin Romine and Ronald Torreyes are hitting .293 and .324 respectively in their places.
For Boston, the hot hitters are Mitch Moreland, Andrew Benintendi and Mookie Betts.
Moreland has really done a good job at first base, not over thinking the job of replacing David Ortiz. He is what he is: a good doubles hitter against right-handed pitching. He’s struck out a few too many times, but with 11 doubles and a .938 OPS, it’s hard to complain.
As for Benintendi, he’s doing amazingly in his first full season at the big league level. He certainly looks like he belongs. He’s hitting .347 and while the power hasn’t yet shown up, he’s making great contact. Betts is also swinging the bat well. He got his second home run on Sunday, mashing a grand slam off of Kevin Gausman. After some illness and a slower start, he’s back to a .858 OPS.
Who's Not?
Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval are both not hitting quite yet. HanRam did smash a deep home run in the first inning on Sunday which may help his bat wake up, but other than that, it’s been a rough go for the designated hitter. He’s hitting .210.
Sandoval is also not swinging well. He’s hitting .213 though he does have a few homers. He’s not about the power, however, but about a solid average and gap-to-gap power when he’s on.
Lastly for the Sox, Dustin Pedroia is also not hitting all that well. He missed the last two games against the Orioles after getting knocked out on a slide at second by Manny Machado.
For the Yankees, the big issue offensively is Greg Bird. He’s hitting just .104 with a single home run while Chris Carter—signed as insurance for Bird—has a .207 average. Bird looked like he may be coming out of his funk on April 16 with a 3-for-4 game and his first homer of the year. Since then, he’s gotten one hit in 19 at bats, a double.
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