The Yankees take on their rivals from the Sunshine State again tonight in the second game of a three-game set. After last night’s 2-0 win that was aided by some shoddy Rays’ defense, the Yankees currently lead Toronto by 9 games and Tampa Bay by 10 games in the AL East. Tonight looks to be one heck of a pitching matchup…
The Yankees will have their hands full as Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan will be on the mound. The 25-year-old lefty and former first-round pick of the Rays has turned himself into one of MLB’s best pitchers in 2022, in only his second season. Remarkably, McClanahan leads all qualified MLB pitchers in xFIP, SIERA, and K-BB% so far this season. He comes right at hitters with a four-seamer (average 96.8 MPH), curve, change, and slider with both the fastball and change showing elite lateral movement. It’s not an exaggeration to say that McClanahan is the best pitcher the Yankees have faced this season, thus far.
To make matters even more interesting, McClanahan has been on a serious roll of late. In his last six starts, he’s thrown 40 innings, allowed only 30 baserunners and four runs while posting an average Game Score of 72. Get the popcorn ready folks, this kid against the Bombers is going to be fun.
The Yankees aren’t going to be sending a slouch to the mound to oppose McClanahan, as Nasty Nestor Cortes will be toeing the slab in the Boogie Down for the home team. Despite coming off his worst start of 2022 last Wednesday in Minnesota, Cortes still ranks in the top ten in both K-BB% and SIERA and in the 95th percentile in xwOBA – despite being in the 6th percentile in fastball velocity.
Nestor’s first pitch from the Bronx will be at 7:05 PM. You can watch the game on YES, stream it on MLB.TV and listen on WFAN 101.9/660. As always, follow along with me @mybaseballpage1 on Twitter and the “My Baseball Page” Facebook page.
Heave-Ho, six in a row!
Tonight’s lineup:
LeMahieu 2B
Judge CF
Rizzo 1B
Stanton RF
Donaldson 3B
Torres DH
Hicks LF
Kiner-Falefa
Higashioka C
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