The Yankees turned things around and have won four straight series with the club going 10-3 over that time period. The Red Sox (12-10 overall) have lost two of their last three series, going 4-5 and have some issues of their own to overcome.
This weekend’s series also marks the beginning of 14 straight games against AL East opponents for the Yankees. While it is only the second month of the season, a poor performance in this stretch could be detrimental to the club.
The Yankees are now without Masahiro Tanaka, so the rest of the rotation will need to step up and it is the middle part of the starting five who get the call against the Red Sox. This will not be an easy task in Boston, but these guys will have to turn the corner at some point if the Yankees expect to remain in contention this season.
Probable starters
5/1/15 – CC Sabathia (0-4, 5.96 ERA) vs. Justin Masterson (2-0, 5.16 ERA)
5/2/15 – Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 4.15 ERA) vs. Wade Miley (1-2, 8.62 ERA)
5/3/15 – Adam Warren (1-1, 4.35 ERA) vs. Joe Kelley (1-0, 4.94 ERA)
What to expect
The series lines up to have a good deal of scoring. Not one of the starting pitchers has an ERA below 4.00 and each offense has been quite good thus far. The Yankees rank sixth in Major League Baseball with 109 runs scored and are tied for third in the league in home runs (29). The Red Sox have scored the third most runs in baseball (113). Those two trends together could mean runs in bunches for both teams.
If the Yankees can manage to carry leads into the late innings, they’ll have a better shot of nailing down games than the Red Sox, whose relievers are simply not clicking as a unit (collective 4.03 ERA). The Yankees’ bullpen (1.75 ERA, .159 BAA and 93 K in 82.1 IP) has been lights out for much of the year despite getting to the point of being overworked.
So for the Yankees to come away with another series win, it's a matter of the rotation not letting things get out of hand, the offense continuing to score runs and the bullpen to remain at their best.
Christopher Carelli is a freelance baseball writer. Besides his work here, Christopher is a featured Yankees writer for SNY.tv. He is also a correspondent for FantasyPros, where he writes a weekly column covering the closer/bullpen situations around Major League Baseball. His baseball commentary has also been published on Yahoo Sports and linked multiple times on MLB Trade Rumors’ Baseball Blogs Weigh In. He is a member of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, the Baseball Bloggers Alliance and the BYB Hub.
The Yankees may not be marketing it, but they are certainly he beneficiary of all the publicity. No one would be paying any attention to this team if it weren't for the notorious A-Rod. perhaps a nice win/win here would be for the Yanks to make a mutually agreed upon donation in A-Rod's name to a few charities around the country?
ReplyDeleteHe's a cheater not man enough to wear the shoes of Mays and Ruth. Bonds is in the same category.
ReplyDeleteNot sure I agree that no one would be paying attention to them without A-Rod; they're in first place and it's not all Rodriguez's doing. I do think your idea of agreeing to donating the money is something that could be worked out if both parties agreed. Problem is, the Yankees simply believe the contract allows them to decide whether they pay the bonus or not and it counts toward the luxury tax at $9 million (they have surpassed threshold so it's another 50% added to the $6 million). The Yanks are going to take their chances here.
ReplyDeleteBob, thanks for the comment. I honestly cannot (and won't) argue with your sentiment.
ReplyDeleteI believe that A-Rod forfeited any right to claim the bonuses when he blatantly cheated his way up the home run ladder through his use of PEDs. He in all likelihood has been a regular user of PEDs through the majority of his Yankee career. Should he get rewarded for cheating, I say no. He also has shown a lack of character in recent years with his dishonesty, not exactly role model material. I truly hope that the Yankees prevail not only in the court of public opinion but by an arbitrator as well if the dispute between the two sides ends up there.
ReplyDeleteThe Yankees have taken the first two of these games with a chance of a sweep going into nights final game of the series. The most obvious difference between the two teams is the bullpens. The Yankees are blessed with perhaps the second best bullpen in baseball, behind only Kansas City. Betances and Miller are untouchable at this point, each with ERAs of .000. The Red Sox better make a move relatively soon or run the risk of falling too far behind. Hello Cincinnati, what would it take to get Cueto and Chapman?
ReplyDeleteThe Yankees believe they had a bullet-proof case. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteI think that the Reds are more realistic in what they would accept than the Phillies. I also think Cueto is a much better pitcher than Hamels.The Sox also are in need of a closer. The Reds have a very good young catcher so Swihart would not have to be on the table. The Yankees should also be in touch with the Reds as well. Severino, Wison and a couple of prime prospects might get the job done. I think the Phillies might be left holding the bag on Hamels
ReplyDelete