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The Tampa Bay Rays head home after two tough road series in New York and Houston. The Rays salvaged one game in each, but played the top teams in baseball tough more often than not. And who doesn’t appreciate hard fought losses?
The New York Yankees won three out of four against the Rays last weekend, and since has won four in a row against the Washington Nationals and Seattle Mariners (not pushovers).
The Matchups:
Friday 7:10 PM: CC Sabathia vs Ryne Stanek / Ryan Yarbrough
Saturday 4:10 PM: Sonny Gray vs Wilmer Font
Sunday 1:10 PM: Domingo German vs Blake Snell
The Rays avoid Luis Severino.
Yankees Starters Last 3 Years
| Pitcher | GS | IP | K% | BB% | HR/9 | ERA | FIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | GS | IP | K% | BB% | HR/9 | ERA | FIP |
| CC Sabathia | 85 | 483.2 | 19.0% | 8.2% | 1.23 | 3.80 | 4.48 |
| Sonny Gray | 79 | 459.1 | 20.0% | 8.5% | 1.14 | 4.29 | 4.22 |
| Domingo German | 8 | 74.2 | 28.8% | 9.6% | 1.33 | 4.46 | 3.93 |
CC Sabathia held the Rays to three early runs in his last start, but was effective through 7.2 innings. Sabathia isn’t the pitcher he was a decade ago, but he can navigate the strike zone and struck out ten Rays batters in his last start.
Sonny Gray hasn’t been the pitcher the Yankees expected when they traded for him last summer. This year he has a 4.89 ERA and 4.26 FIP through 73.2 innings. He has allowed two or fewer runs in three of his last four starts including a two run effort his last time out against the Washington Nationals.
Domingo German been solid since joining the rotation at the beginning of May. His last time out he held the Seattle Mariners to two runs, one earned, through 7.0 innings. Last week the Rays scored three against him in 6.0 innings.
No Yankees reliever has thrown more than once in the past three days.
Yankees Relievers Last 3 Years
| Pitcher | G | IP | K% | BB% | HR/9 | ERA | FIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | G | IP | K% | BB% | HR/9 | ERA | FIP |
| Dellin Betances | 213 | 214.2 | 40.5% | 12.3% | 0.75 | 2.85 | 2.64 |
| David Robertson | 188 | 197.1 | 32.3% | 9.3% | 0.82 | 3.06 | 2.90 |
| Aroldis Chapman | 178 | 177.0 | 39.3% | 9.5% | 0.36 | 1.88 | 1.82 |
| Adam Warren | 142 | 167.0 | 22.4% | 8.8% | 0.92 | 3.23 | 3.78 |
| Chasen Shreve | 143 | 134.2 | 26.4% | 12.4% | 2.00 | 4.41 | 5.43 |
| Chad Green | 71 | 110.2 | 37.0% | 6.3% | 0.65 | 1.71 | 2.07 |
| Jonathan Holder | 69 | 74.2 | 23.2% | 5.2% | 0.84 | 3.38 | 3.23 |
| Luis Cessa | 16 | 37.0 | 16.8% | 8.4% | 1.70 | 4.38 | 5.33 |
Aroldis Chapman is in dominant form with a 1.07 ERA and 1.31 FIP through 33.1 innings this year with a 43.5% strikeout rate.
Chad Green is one of the most under appreciated relievers over the past couple years. This year he has a 2.36 ERA and 2.60 FIP in 34.1 innings. He is asked to get four plus outs frequently.
Last year Dellin Betances has trouble finding the strike zone with a 16.9% walk rate, but this year it’s been held in check at 9.9%. His 45.8% strikeout rate gives him a lot of room for error.
Jonathan Holder and Chasen Shreve threw 30+ pitches and 2.0 plus innings on Wednesday night, so they might be limited tonight, but should then be at full strength tomorrow.
The Yankees have the second best offense in the majors.
Yankees Batters Last 3 Years
| Batter | PA | HR | SB | BB% | K% | AVE | OBP | SLG | wOBA | wRC+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batter | PA | HR | SB | BB% | K% | AVE | OBP | SLG | wOBA | wRC+ |
| Brett Gardner | 1965 | 42 | 51 | 11.0% | 18.1% | 0.259 | 0.348 | 0.388 | 0.324 | 102 |
| Didi Gregorius | 1810 | 64 | 21 | 5.0% | 13.3% | 0.278 | 0.319 | 0.452 | 0.328 | 104 |
| Giancarlo Stanton | 1492 | 106 | 4 | 10.9% | 27.4% | 0.263 | 0.350 | 0.559 | 0.377 | 137 |
| Neil Walker | 1426 | 51 | 5 | 10.0% | 18.0% | 0.266 | 0.342 | 0.438 | 0.335 | 111 |
| Aaron Hicks | 1246 | 43 | 26 | 11.1% | 18.3% | 0.247 | 0.331 | 0.422 | 0.326 | 103 |
| Aaron Judge | 1092 | 75 | 13 | 17.1% | 31.9% | 0.273 | 0.401 | 0.583 | 0.409 | 160 |
| Gary Sanchez | 1012 | 67 | 3 | 9.3% | 23.7% | 0.262 | 0.339 | 0.537 | 0.368 | 132 |
| Andrew Romine | 753 | 7 | 21 | 6.0% | 21.1% | 0.228 | 0.287 | 0.312 | 0.265 | 60 |
| Greg Bird | 436 | 23 | 0 | 10.6% | 27.3% | 0.223 | 0.312 | 0.466 | 0.333 | 109 |
| Miguel Andujar | 259 | 10 | 2 | 4.2% | 17.8% | 0.298 | 0.328 | 0.539 | 0.366 | 133 |
| Gleyber Torres | 200 | 14 | 2 | 6.5% | 26.0% | 0.291 | 0.347 | 0.560 | 0.382 | 144 |
| Clint Frazier | 165 | 4 | 1 | 6.1% | 29.1% | 0.248 | 0.297 | 0.451 | 0.315 | 95 |
The Yankees are hitting .253/.331/.466 with a 116 wRC+ that ranks second in the majors, and their 381 runs also comes in second to the Houston Astros. Last weekend the Rays held the Yankees to 14 runs in a four game series at Yankees Stadium. The Rays are going to need to hold them to similar numbers to have a chance at winning.
Aaron Judge leads the offense with a 162 wRC+ and 19 homers. Giancarlo Stanton has been disappointing on some levels, but he still has put up a 121 wRC+ with 18 homers.
Miguel Andujar (128 wRC+) and Gleyber Torres (144 wRC+) have hit the ground running since being called up earlier this year.
Didi Gregorius (117 wRC+), Brett Gardner (104 wRC+), and Aaron Hicks (122 wRC+) have provided good veteran bats.
Neil Walker has struggled after signing a free agent contract as the season approached with a 54 wRC+ over 168 plate appearances (remember him, Danny?).
The Rays have survived their tough portion of the schedule.
Between May 11 and June 20 the Rays played 40 games with only two days off. They went 19-21. The Rays face a tough schedule to end the month of June with series against the Yankees, Astros, and Nationals. In July the schedule lightens significantly.
The Rays look to continue their transition to the youngsters on the position side against the best competition.