Toronto Blue Jays: New York Yankees Series Preview
By Vinnie
The Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees match-up really well, with both teams very capable of taking three out of four games during the weekend series.
The Toronto Blue Jays are hosting the New York Yankees in a four-game series this weekend at Rogers Centre, beginning Thursday evening.
This series has a lot of hype around it because the Jays are currently on fire after winning eight of their last nine games. They also sit 5.5 games back of the Bronx Bombers and just one game under .500, which is something no one thought they would achieve so quickly after the poor start they had to the 2017 campaign.
Offensively, Toronto currently ranks 17th in runs per game but if you’ve been watching their currently hot streak, you’d see the offense is much better than the ranking suggests. They’ve actually generated 54 runs over their last nine games, which is six runs per game.
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With all the hot bats up and down the lineup and the return of Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki, the offence doesn’t look to let up in this series.
The Yankees offence is no slouch either. They generate the second most runs in the league, at 5.4 per game.
They’ve scored 23 runs in their last four games, which is good for 5.75 per contest. They also have a guy named Aaron Judge, who has the most home runs in the Majors at 17.
These offences match up really well, so it’s likely going to come down to pitching. The matchups for the four games looks are as follows:
- CC Sabathia (4.42 ERA) vs. Marco Estrada (3.15 ERA)
- Michael Pineda (3.32 ERA) vs. Francisco Liriano (6.35 ERA)
- Jordan Montgomery (4.11 ERA) vs. Joe Biagini (3.64 ERA)
- Luis Severino (2.93 ERA) vs. Marcus Stroman (3.28 ERA)
The Blue Jays bullpen has given up 82 earned runs over 193 innings, pitching for an ERA of 3.82. The Yankees bullpen has given up just 55 earned runs over 160.2 innings, pitching for a 3.08 ERA.
The Jays relievers have shut their opponents down during their current nine-game hot streak, giving up just seven runs, so the bullpen matchup looks like a wash too.
In the first matchup, the edge goes to Estrada but Sabathia has been stingy in his last three starts, surrendering just three earned runs over 18 innings of work. All things considered, this game is likely coming down to the final inning.
The second matchup is definitely advantage Yankees, with Liriano making just his first appearance since returning from the IR. You also just never know what kind of game he is going to toss.
Biagini looks like he’s found his groove as a starter, since his six-run outing over four innings. He went 6.1 innings on May 28 versus Texas and struck out seven, so advantage Jays in Game 3 on Saturday.
As great as the ‘Stro-show’ has been, Severino has been even better. Severino also has an impressive 1.08 WHIP, so the series finale looks like edge to the Bombers.
The four-game series will likely end 2-2, but regardless of the analytics and historical season statistics, they play the games for a reason. Especially in this weekend series, these teams match-up really well and both teams are very capable of taking three out of the four games.
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Either way, the sun looks to be shining most of the weekend in Toronto. It’s going to be a fun series to watch, as it always is when the Yankees are in town.