Outside that pair of series against the Athletics and Rays, this Yankees team has been pretty adept at quickly brushing off losses. That’s something they’ll look to do in the backend of this road trip after missing out on a sweep opportunity against the Houston Astros. After Luis Gil’s increasingly disappointing efforts on Sunday—ultimately leading to his demotion—the Yankees will start the series against the Rangers with the best they have to offer on the mound in a three-game set of high-profile
pitching matchups.
Monday: Max Fried vs. Jack Leiter (8:05 pm ET)
Already making his fifth start on the road in 2026, Max Fried has been superb early on, but if there is one element to his game that’s lacked a bit, it is in the strikeout department—not that this is ever the primary aspect of his game. The Rangers’ offense presents quite the opportunity for Fried and other left-handers on the Yankees pitching staff—Texas has struggled the most against southpaws in the big leagues, only one of 30 clubs with a strikeout rate of at least 30 percent against them, and also boasts a pitiful 67 wRC+. Further damaging the Rangers’ prospects against left-handers is the absence of Wyatt Langford, their premier right-handed hitter and one of the more exciting young players in the American League, currently on the IL.
One of the few pleasant pieces of news for the Rangers last season was that Jack Leiter established himself as a solid starter. However, in the middle of a campaign that placed him seventh on the Rookie of the Year voting roll call, Leiter had his shortest outing against the Yankees. The young right-hander struggled with the free passes—conceding four of them—and not even finishing four innings. Yankee hitters will once again look to work deep counts against Leiter. It’s a bumpy start to 2026 for the former Vanderbilt standout, as he hasn’t finished the sixth since March and has allowed 12 runs on 17 hits and 9 walks across his last trio of outings (14.1 innings) against the Dodgers, A’s, and Pirates.
Tuesday: Cam Schlittler vs. Jacob deGrom (8:05 pm ET)
For the first time since he squared off against George Kirby in his second start of the season, Cam Schlittler will not be the center of attention of a pitching matchup, as he and the Yankees face one of the more dominant starters of this century of baseball. There is not a whiff of hyperbole in that statement when you assess what deGrom has done—the two-time near-unanimous Cy Young Award winner’s level of dominance in a post-prime period with the Rangers only enhances his legend, still just about as good as it gets out there. He has a 2.13 ERA and a 1.066 WHIP in his five starts for 2026, fanning 35 — including 10 Bucs his last time out.
It remains to be seen how Giancarlo Stanton will recover in the following days, having been out of the lineup on Sunday. Jasson Domínguez’s reported promotion seems to indicate that an IL stint is a lock (and Domínguez will be ready to face the Rangers’ righties from his superior side). If the Yankees’ designated hitter is indeed unable to suit up on Tuesday, it’ll be a particularly impactful hit; Stanton has potent numbers he has shown against deGrom over the years, hitting four home runs in 27 at-bats against him, doing so with a .333 batting average. Other than Stanton, the Yankee hitter who has faced deGrom the most is Cody Bellinger, also featuring quality numbers against the Rangers ace with a pair of bombs in 19 at-bats.
Wednesday: Will Warren vs. Nathan Eovaldi (2:35 pm ET)
On one side, an undefeated pitcher, who has been quietly solid early on in 2026 (only 11 qualified pitchers have topped Warren’s 0.9 fWAR in 31.1 innings); on the other, a starter that, as of Sunday, April 26th, is tied for the league lead in losses with four. As a former Yankee, it’s weird to think that Nathan Eovaldi has faced them more than any other club in his career as a big leaguer. Eovaldi was so magnificent last year that with this disappointing beginning to his 2026 campaign, the veteran is only four earned runs away from matching his total the previous season (25), achieved in exactly 130 innings of work.
While the results for Eovaldi have been vastly underwhelming, nothing under the hood corroborates the potential expectation of a rapid decline, so the Yankees should expect the usual customer who has a 3.22 ERA in 24 career appearances against them. While Stanton’s numbers against deGrom stand out more and the impact of his potential absence might be especially hurtful, his career stats against Eovaldi are also impressive. The currently sidelined Yankees DH has four bombs in 38 at-bats against Eovaldi, facing him one more time than Judge, who has gone deep twice with a .324 average facing him.
