The Yankees have not played well over the course of the last two months; that much is known. After being a top-five offense in every metric through June 17, the team is dead last in runs per game at 3.28 in the seven weeks since, partially due to injuries but also due to clear offensive regression.
Despite this, the pitching has more than kept them afloat, to the point where they’re 16-10 in their last 26 games as they wait for the cavalry to arrive, but they fell to a season-high six games behind
the Rays for the AL East last night after they won their seventh consecutive game in comeback fashion in Sacramento. With 42 games to go, there’s not much time left to make a run to make that four-game series in late September mean something, and this is a prime opportunity to feast on the bones of a spiraling Mariners club that has the fourth-worst record in the AL.
Ryan Weathers will look to keep it rolling in his 23rd start of the season. This year, he’s pitching to a 3.79 ERA (110 ERA+) and 3.65 FIP with 132 strikeouts in 121 innings, but he’s been especially effective of late. He’s allowed just one run in 18.2 innings across his last three starts, and with the exception of a rough first three innings against the Pirates right out of the All-Star break, he’s been extremely effective over the past month and will look to take advantage of one of the coldest offenses in baseball.
On the other end, it’s the 26-year-old former All-Star Bryan Woo, who, along with the rest of the reigning AL West champions, is having a down year. He’s still been solid, pitching to a 4.31 ERA (91 ERA+) and 3.20 FIP in 127 innings while being one of the most efficient strike throwers in the sport, but it hasn’t been the usual dominance we’re used to. The Yankees have never seen him do well, with Woo having a 2.73 ERA and .514 OPS allowed in five career starts, but he missed the Yanks back in late March.
Woo’s struggles at times have been pretty simple, as he’s allowed harder contact in the air than he had at any point in his career to this point while striking out fewer batters. His command is still sharp, and he’ll get you to chase a bunch, but he looks a lot more mortal than he used to. He’s almost exclusively a four-seamer and slider (75% combined) against lefties, but leans much harder on his sinker and sweeper against righties.
How to watch
Location: Yankee Stadium — The Bronx, NY
First pitch: 7:05 pm ET
TV broadcast: YES, Mariners.TV, TBS
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY), Seattle Sports 710 AM (SEA)
Online stream: Gotham Sports App, MLB.tv (out-of-market only)
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