The Yankees bats finally woke up at the end of an otherwise listless series, Trent Grisham and Jazz Chisholm Jr. both homering twice to beat the Red Sox, 7-2, to avert the four-game sweep. The Yankees pull within a half-game of Boston for the top Wild Card spot, but face a quick turnaround as they welcome the Nationals to Yankee Stadium for three games.
Washington boasts a pair of breakout young stars on offense in James Wood and CJ Abrams leading a lineup that features several rookies. They also
have a pair of breakout performers in the starting rotation, both of whom the Yankees will see. Let’s preview those starting pitching matchups.
Monday: Cam Schlittler vs. Brad Lord (7:05 pm ET)
Cam Schlittler is coming off the best start of his big league career — 6.2 scoreless innings against the Rays. He carried a perfect game into the seventh inning and ultimately allowed just one hit and two walks. His fastball command was the sharpest it has been since his debut, particularly at the bottom of the zone, and the curveball emerged as a real swing and miss weapon. In seven starts, the righty rookie is 1-2 with a 3.22 ERA (127 ERA+), 4.57 FIP, and 38 strikeouts in 36.1 innings.
Brad Lord was drafted by the Nationals in the 18th round of the 2022 MLB Draft and made his debut on March 30th this year. He started the year in the rotation but moved to the bullpen from mid-May through mid-July until the Nationals’ trade of Michael Soroka gave him the chance to start again. He has performed better as a reliever (2.79 ERA) than as a starter (3.90 ERA), though he has looked a lot sharper in this second stint in the rotation. He throws a four-seamer that averages 95 mph about half the time, followed by the slider, changeup, and sinker in roughly equal proportions, and places in the 80th percentile or better in average exit velocity, barrel rate, and ground ball rate. In 41 overall appearances (12 starts), Lord is 4-6 with a 3.46 ERA (120 ERA+), 3.65 FIP, and 77 strikeouts in 96.1 innings.
Tuesday: Luis Gil vs. MacKenzie Gore (7:05 pm ET)
Luis Gil has looked a lot better since his disappointing season debut, lasting at least five innings and allowing two or fewer runs in each of the subsequent three starts. He still needs to get the free passes in check — 13 walks in 19 innings is alarmingly high — but the four-seam velocity and improving slider command have been encouraging. In four starts, Gil is 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA (97 ERA+), 4.06 FIP, and 17 strikeouts in 19 innings.
MacKenzie Gore has some of the most shocking first half second half splits of any starter in baseball. He was one of the best starters until the All-Star break, with a 3.02 ERA and 2.94 FIP. Since the break, he sports a 7.88 ERA, 6.24 FIP, is allowing a .981 OPS against, and has given up almost as many home runs (eight in 32 innings) as he had in the whole first half (11 in 110.1 innings). His high velocity fastball has been getting crushed during that span, so expect the Yankees hitters to hunt the heat, though they still have to be wary of his lethal breaking ball duo in the slider and curveball. In 26 starts overall, Gore is 5-12 with a 4.11 ERA (101 ERA+), 3.68 FIP, and 170 strikeouts in 142.1 innings.
Wednesday: Max Fried vs. Cade Cavalli (1:05 pm ET)
Max Fried finally snapped out of an extended slump last time out against the Red Sox, though his six scoreless innings went for naught. After such a brilliant start to the campaign, Fried had given up at least four runs in seven of his previous eight starts before the Boston outing as he leaned perhaps a little too heavily on his fastball. In 26 starts on the year, Fried is 13-5 with a 3.14 ERA (129 ERA+), 3.24 FIP, and 148 strikeouts in 155 innings.
Cade Cavalli has been quite the comeback story for the Nationals. Despite making his MLB debut back in 2022, he is still a rookie after missing all of 2023 and 2024 save for three minor league appearances to injury. 1,076 days passed between his first and second MLB appearance, that coming on August 6th as the Nationals called him up as part of their broader plan to give their prospects a runout in the majors to end the season. The 27-year-old righty is one of the hardest throwers in MLB, his fastball averaging 97.5 mph. However, the knuckle curve is his most-used pitch, with over four inches more downward movement than an average curveball thrown at a similar velocity. In four starts, Cavalli is 1-0 with a 2.82 ERA (149 ERA+), 3.61 FIP, and 18 strikeouts in 22.1 innings.
