TORONTO BLUE JAYS @ NEW YORK YANKEES
MONDAY AUGUST 15TH – WEDNESDAY AUGUST 17TH
Written by Sean Addis and Jenn Smith
The Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees match up for the first time since the end of May. The Blue Jays have won seven of the nine games this season, including two of three at Yankee Stadium. With Alex Rodriguez, Carlos Beltran, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman gone, Toronto will be facing a very different New York team. The Yankees have turned the page to the future and the Blue Jays will have their first opportunity to get a look at this young new core up close this week.
PITCHING MATCHUPS:
AUGUST 12TH – 7:05 PM ET
RA Dickey vs. Chad Green
Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey is in the midst of a down season in his career. He is 8-12 with an ERA of 4.61 and a WHIP of 1.339, his highest since 2009. His 1.98 K/BB ratio is also the highest since 2009. Dickey is coming of his second-shortest outing of the season during which he went 4 1/3 innings against the Rays, giving up four runs. Though he has pitched a few gems this season, Dickey has allowed four runs or more in four of his last five starts. One thing that may work in his favour is the fact that the Yankees lineup is full of young hitters including several rookies who have likely never faced a knuckleball. Also in his favour are Dickey’s home/road splits this season. Batters are hitting .270/.343/.515 with a .859 OPS at home compared to .238/.304/.433 with a .737 OPS on the road.
Rookie Chad Green was recalled from Triple-A to take the place of Luis Severino, who was optioned after giving up seven runs in just 3 2/3 innings to the Rays on Sunday. Green made his debut for the Yankees on May 16th and has appeared in eight games this season, four as a starter. In his total 27.1 innings pitched, he has surrendered 15 earned runs on 30 hits with 10 walks and 29 strikeouts, good for an ERA of 4.94 with a 1.46 WHIP. Green features a plus fourseam fastball that generates a high number of whiffs and a groundball-inducing slider, mixing in a cutter and sinker. If the Toronto offense can get to him early it could be a short outing for Green; of his eight games in the big leagues, all but one have lasted fewer than six innings.
AUGUST 16TH – 7:05 PM ET
Marco Estrada vs. Michael Pineda
Marco Estrada had one of his worst starts of the season the last time out against the Tampa Bay Rays. The finesse pitcher allowed three runs on seven hits in five innings, throwing 113 pitches. After the game he contributed his performance to being a bit rusty on an extra day’s rest, and that he would need to alter his preparation for his next start. We’ll see how effective those alterations are in this outing, because if he’s sharp, Estrada is one of the best in the AL. Coming into this start he has a 2.95 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP, both top six in the American Leage. He has kept hitters off balance with his excellent change up mixed in with the fastball. Estrada will be looking to continue his success this season against the Yankees. In his two starts against New York he has pitched 15 innings, only allowing seven hits and three runs.
Micheal Pineda has had another inconsistent and disappointing season. He has increased his strike outs per nine innings to 10.4, due in large part to an increase in swinging strikes (22.8%), but he has struggled with giving up harder contact, resulting an increase in home runs (21) and a higher opponent slugging percentage (.477). In Pineda’s last start – against the Red Sox – he was effective, surrendering just two runs in six innings. His ability to miss bats will be key against the strikeout prone Blue Jays, but his tendency to give up home runs could hurt him against the middle of the Toronto lineup.
AUGUST 17TH – 1:05 PM ET
J.A. Happ vs CC Sabathia
A model of consistency this season, J.A. Happ became the league’s first 16 game winner last time out when he threw six shutout innings against the Rays, giving him ten straight wins in as many decisions. Currently boasting a 2.96 ERA and a WHIP of 1.140, Happ has been lights out since the start of July, posting a 1.25 ERA. This success corresponds to a dramatic increase in the use of his bread-and-butter pitch, the fourseamer, while decreasing reliance on his sinker:
Happ is one of those rare pitchers who has been able to increase velocity on his fastball as he’s aged, which no doubt has contributed to his renaissance.
In his age 36 season, Sabathia had a terrific start to the season but has since faded. Currently 7-9 with a 4.20 ERA and an opponent’s batting average of .255, Sabathia’s second half ERA (5.25) is nearly a run and a half above his first half ERA. Like Dickey, Sabathia has noticeable home/road splits; at Yankee Stadium, Sabathia has a 4.78 ERA with a 1.457 WHIP and 1.86 K/BB, compared to an ERA of 3.68 with a 1.318 WHIP and 2.03 K/BB ratio on the road. His most recent outing was just the latest in his poor second half, during which he gave up three runs on six hits (two of those were home runs) on six hits and four walks in just 5.2 innings.
ADDITIONS AND SUBTRACTIONS
Jays
Ezequiel Carrera began a rehab assignment in Triple-A Buffalo over the weekend and is eligible to come off the disabled list during this series. With Jose Bautista and Kevin Pillar on the DL, Carrera could return to action sooner rather than later.
Yankees
The Yankees made numerous changes to their major league roster over the past weekend. They closed the door on the Alex Rodriguez era, by releasing the declining veteran, and optioned Chris Paramelee to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. They selected the contracts of top prospect Aaron Judge and OF/1B Tyler Austin. The Yankees also optioned Luis Severino and recalled Chad Green to start the opener against the Blue Jays.
New York veterans, outfielder Brett Gardner and first baseman Mark Teixeira are dealing with injuries. Gardner has been out of the line up since Friday, after he took a pitch off his right ankle from Tampa Bay starter Chris Archer. Teixeira has been out the last two days due to the torn cartilage in his knee that has been a persistent problem. They are both expected to play in the series but they will be game time decisions.
Keep an Eye On
Yankee Youth Movement
This is a new look lineup the Blue Jays will be seeing in this series. New York will be showcasing three of players they hope will be part of their new core. Catcher/DH Gary Sanchez was the first one to New York, and in ten games has posted a .500 slugging percentage. He was recently joined by top prospects Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge, who made an immediate impact by hitting back-to-back in their first major league plate apperances on Saturday. Judge is viewed as a big home run threat who can handle the bat and will draw some walks. Austin also has a good bat, and has hit extremely well at Double-A and Triple-A this season. The average age of the lineup on Sunday was 26 years, 165 days, more than five years younger than the opening day lineup. This is a different team, and the Blue Jays will have to make adjustments as they see many players for the first time.
Jays Starters
The Toronto Blue Jays have struggled scoring runs on a consistent basis. As a result they rely heavily on the starting pitching to win them ball games, a rotation that leads the American League in ERA with 3.64 and WHIP 1.20. They struggled the first time through the six-man rotation only having one quality start and posting a 2-4 record. Could this have been due to rust from the extra day rest or just a bad turn through the rotation? Whatever it was seemed to rectified based on the two recent starts by Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez. It is imperative that the rest of the rotation follow suit while the offence tries to find some consistency.
Hitters Need to Step Up
With the injuries to Jose Bautista, Kevin Pillar and the need to rest Russell Martin periodically, it is imperative that a trio of hitters step up their performance; Justin Smoak, Melvin Upton Jr., and Micheal Saunders have performed very poorly in the month of August. Contact has been a particular issue; Smoak (.138/.219/.276 ) has 15 K in 29 AB, Upton Jr. (195/.227/.195) checks in with 19 K in 41 AB, and Saunders (.163/.250/.256 ) is right there with them sportin 18 K in 43 AB. They need to make more consistent contact and be contributors to add depth to the lineup in the absence of the two everyday players. If not, pitchers will starting adjusting their approach to the rest of the lineup.
Probable Lineup
TORONTO BLUE JAYS |
NEW YORK YANKEES |
| Devon Travis-2B | Brett Gardner-LF |
| Josh Donaldson-3B | Jacoby Ellsbury-CF |
| Edwin Encarnacion-DH | Mark Teixeira-1B |
| Michael Saunders-RF | Brian McCann-C |
| Troy Tulowitzki-SS | Starlin Castro-2B |
| Russell Martin-C | Didi Gregorius-SS |
| Justin Smoak-1B | Chase Headley-3B |
| Melvin Upton Jr.-CF | Gary Sanchez-DH |
| Darrell Ceciliani-LF | Aaron Judge-RF |
via Roster Resource
Final Thoughts
On paper the Blue Jays should win or even sweep this series, especially with Baltimore and Boston playing each other this week. It is time for the Blue Jays to start to separate themselves from the rest of the American League East, and to do so they need to take advantage of this part of the schedule.
Lead Photo: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports