After starting the month by facing the Astros, Blue Jays, Tigers, and Red Sox, all likely playoff teams, the Yankees will finish out the season with four series against exclusively sub-.500 teams, a stretch that will give them a critical opportunity to catch Toronto in the AL East race. This soft spot in the schedule will begin in Minnesota against a Twins team that initiated a deep rebuild with an everything-must-go fire sale at the trade deadline that left their major-league roster threadbare.
The new-look Twins have gone just 3-10 this month, limping into a mid-week showdown with the surging Yankees. Let’s take a look at the probable pitching matchups for this three-game set.
Monday : Carlos Rodón vs. Simeon Woods Richardson (7:40 pm ET)
Carlos Rodón has quietly been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season. After an All-Star first half, he’s in the midst of perhaps his best stretch yet in pinstripes. He hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any start since August 1st, a stretch in which he’s gone 5-1 with a 2.38 ERA. He’s walked nearly a batter every other inning during the run, but permitted just one long ball in 41.2 innings.
He’s slated to face Simeon Woods Richardson. In his second full season in the big leagues, the former top-100 prospect has been middling, pitching to a 4.58 ERA through 94.1 innings. Opponents are barreling him up on 11.7 percent of batted balls in play, which ranks in the sixth percentile across MLB. The 24-year-old has gone five innings and given up three runs in each of his past two starts, indicative of a season in which he’s performed more as an innings-eater than as the dynamic young starter the Twins would have hoped for.
Tuesday: Cam Schlittler vs. Zebby Matthews (7:40 pm ET)
Cam Schlittler has quickly emerged as a key cog in the Yankees’ rotation since his MLB debut in July. After his first true dud — a 1.2-inning, four-run blowup in Toronto that the rookie attributed (at least in part) to pitch tipping — Schlittler returned to form last Thursday, holding the first-place Tigers to one run while punching out seven in six innings of work. The phenom’s remaining starts will serve as an important opportunity to cement his role come October.
He’ll face off against Zebby Matthews. After a few cups of coffee with the Twins over the past two seasons, the 25-year-old joined the rotation in earnest in July amidst the team’s restructuring. The results have been poor, with Matthews pitching to an ERA above five in 10 starts while allowing more than a hit per inning. His last time out, the Angels lit him up for five runs in 4.2 innings of work. Opponents are hitting .344 against his four-seamer, which tops out in the high 90s, and above .300 against all of his five complementary pitches with the exception of his slider, which has been by far his most effective pitch this season.
Wednesday: Luis Gil vs. Taj Bradley (7:40 pm ET)
Luis Gil has been excellent in eight starts since coming off the IL, going 4-1 with a 2.83 ERA. His last outing was one of his best as a Yankee, with the reigning AL Rookie of the Year twirling six hitless innings in Boston. His 5.9 walks per nine feels unsustainable, yet Gil proved he can find success despite control issues last year, when he led all of baseball with 77 free passes. Barring a major collapse down the stretch, the right-hander appears poised to hold down a spot in the playoff rotation behind Max Fried and Rodón.
He’s lined up to oppose Taj Bradley. After a promising 2024 with the Rays, the former top prospect took a step back this season, seeing his ERA balloon to 4.61 in 21 starts before getting moved to the Twins at the deadline. After a stint at Triple-A, Bradley had a disastrous debut for Minnesota, giving up seven runs in five innings against the last-place White Sox. In three starts since then, he’s been more serviceable, allowing eight runs in 16.1 innings of work. The 24-year-old’s three most commonly-thrown pitches are his four-seamer — against which opponents are slugging .500 — cutter, and splitter. He also mixes in a curveball, which batters are managing just a .078 batting average against.
