The Yankees will go into this weekend’s regular season-ending series against the Orioles with nothing to play for standings-wise. The Rays beat them to the the AL East title during their series earlier this week, but the Yankees clinched the top AL Wild Card spot themselves. No matter how this weekend plays out, the Bombers will be hosting one of the Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium next week.
However, we still have three regular season games left to go. For the Yankees, the goal is mainly going
to be getting through the weekend healthy, which has been easier said than done this year. To be honest, that’ll probably be the goal for this visiting Orioles as well. Baltimore has been eliminated from playoff contention and won’t have a spoiler role to play or anything.
Ahead of the series getting going later today, here’s a look at the expected pitching matchups for this three-game set.
Friday – Game 1: TBD vs. Trevor Rogers (4:05 PM ET)
Due to expected inclement weather, Saturday’s game has been moved up to Friday as part of a doubleheader. For those of you excited for the CC Sabathia number retirement ceremony, note that the event will be held ahead of the first game, starting at 3 PM.
Also partly due to the doubleheader, the Yankees haven’t announced their starters for any games this weekend. The other reason for that is that they’re also going to line up their rotation for the Wild Card Series. With that in mind, I’d imagine one of the starters in the doubleheader will be Will Warren, who hasn’t pitched since Sunday and wouldn’t be in the Wild Card Series rotation anyway. It’s also conceivable that they use an opener and then deploy him out of the bullpen since he’ll likely be in a relief role this postseason.
Meanwhile, the O’s have announced a fully rotation for this weekend, starting Rogers in the opener. Rogers have been right around average so far this season, with his 4.07 ERA grading out as a 101 ERA+. That being said, the Yankees crushed him in their only meeting this season, getting him for six runs in four innings back in May.
Friday – Game 2: TBD vs. Brandon Young (7:05pm PM ET, or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game)
Again, nothing announced by the Yankees for this one. Considering that everyone else in the Yankees rotation would be on less than full rest with the Saturday game moved up, you’d have to imagine the team will use a quick call-up as a starter for one of Friday’s games. Elmer Rodríguez has made six spot starts for the Yankees this year, so he could potentially be in that mix, or perhaps Brendan Beck. Ryan Yarbrough may well get some work too; he threw 23 pitches on Tuesday, so he’s not fully rested, but he’ll likely chip in some innings.
Young is in his second big league season, and this will be his 40th career start. Only one of them has come against the Yankees, and that one was back in May of this year. He held the Yankees to just two runs on three hits in 5.1 innings. He’s had a bit of a rough September, though, posting a 5.06 ERA and 5.86 FIP in his four prior starts this month.
Sunday: TBD vs. Shane Baz (3:20 PM ET)
Theoretically, Carlos Rodón would be on normal rest for Sunday, but considering that he’s been probably the best starter in recent weeks, the Yankees might want to use him in the Wild Card Series — or at minimum keep him fresh for possible emergency bullpen work. Once again, who the hell knows what they’ll do? Any of those spot starter options from the second game Friday could be in play, too. The Yankees may just secretly hope for rain.
Finally, the O’s will start Baz on Sunday. By rate stats, he’s been about average with a 4.11 ERA and a 3.62 FIP in his first season as an Oriole. Of note though is that he is currently the league leader in losses. However, he is tied with Tanner Bibee and Brady Singer, so the Yankees could doom him to ignominy in this one.
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