We’re past the All-Star Game which means the Trade Deadline is now the biggest upcoming event on the baseball calendar, and boy does the first game out of the break underscore one of the Yankees’ primary needs. While Atlanta sends a name brand — albeit a slightly tarnished one — to the hill, the Yankees send a reliever.
Ian Hamilton will act as the opener tonight, with the rotation still in a state of flux regarding Max Fried’s blister and subsequent availability, as well as rookie Cam Schlittler’s
own mini-flareup. The goal is that they will pitch in Toronto instead. So because the Yankees didn’t want to throw Will Warren or Marcus Stroman off by bumping them up a day each, this is going to a pure bullpen game.
Hamilton will throw the first, with both JT Brubaker and newcomer Rico Garcia possibly following with multiple innings. Atlanta’s smack dab in the middle of the MLB table when it comes to team dingers, so hopefully Johnny Wholestaff can keep ‘em in the ballpark. Ronald Acuña Jr. has been on fire since his belated season debut, batting .323/.425/.590 with 12 homers and a 186 wRC+ in 45 games, so he’ll try to wreak havoc from the jump.
Meanwhile, Spencer Strider has lost a little bit of luster because of injury and the shiny new toys that are Paul Skenes and Jacob Misiorowski, but he’s still a damn fine pitcher. A 3.94 ERA is cut with a FIP 20 odd points lower. His breaking pitches still remain strong, but that fastball that carried him to the majors is missing some shape and is the pitch being hit hardest in his 61.2 innings of work. As Matt noted in his series preview though, Strider has been better over his last six starts at least, recording a 2.95 ERA, 2.48 FIP, and 50 K’s in 36.2 innings.
Cody Bellinger will look to keep up his three-month hot streak, hitting second ahead of AL MVP frontrunner Aaron Judge, while Jorbit Vivas gets to try his hand at third base tonight. The bench roulette finds Giancarlo Stanton and Paul Goldschmidt, who step aside at DH and first respectively for Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger.
How to watch
Location: Truist Park — Atlanta, GA
First pitch: 7:15 pm ET
TV broadcast: YES | FanDuel Sports Network South, FanDuel Sports Network Southeast, Gray TV
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 | 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM
Online stream: MLB.tv, Gotham Sports App
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Back from the Break #RepBX pic.twitter.com/CxBHnYUEOm
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 18, 2025
Friday night lights ✨#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/FuQE5F9Im5
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 18, 2025
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