Orioles-Yankees series preview: Finally, three games with no off day!

The New York Yankees come to town for a three-game weekend series as a rebuilding team with a lot of promise, who are not expected to do too much this season. They have a lot of young guys with promise in their lineup, including Greg Bird, Gary Sanchez, and Aaron Judge.

It’s unusual for the Yankees to actually have young guys in their lineup, so this is a different team indeed. But if you just don’t feel right without some old guys on the Yankees, don’t worry. They signed Matt Holliday to be their DH.

If things go as planned for the Yankees those young future studs will mesh with the rest of the lineup to score a lot of runs, and they going to need it because their starting rotation has the potential to be a complete disaster (This coming from an Orioles fan is, of course, the pot calling the kettle black).

Other than Masahiro Tanaka, whose elbow could blow up just as easily as not, the rest of the rotation is...questionable at best. That especially applies to the other two Yankees we’ll see this series.

Most experts (or “experts,” if you prefer) predict that neither the Orioles nor the Yankees will be much of a factor in the A.L. East race. Let’s hope they are half right.

Game 1 - Friday, April 7th, 7:05

Ubaldo Jimenez (2016: 8-12, 5.44 ERA) vs Luis Severino (2016: 3-8, 5.83 ERA)

Ah, Ubaldo. What will 2017 bring for our old friend who is entering the final year of his contract? His overall 2016 was pretty bad, but he finished on a very nice run at the end of the year, pitching to an ERA of just 2.91 in August and September (partly starting, partly out of the bullpen). Can he replicate that? Well, probably not over a full season. But maybe for a few starts in a row several times through!

Severino had a terrible 2016, going from the rotation to the minors to the bullpen, where he finally found a bit of success. But he’s been moved back to the rotation this year, at least to start. Will he be able to turn things around there this season? Let’s hope not!

Game 2 - Saturday, April 8th, 4:05

Kevin Gausman (0-0, 3.38 ERA) vs Masahiro Tanaka (0-1, 23.63 ERA)

Ok so I know it isn’t really fair or useful to put one start’s worth of stats in this post, but I just couldn’t resist that 23.63 ERA by Tanaka! In truth this is the marquee match up of the series, with each team’s number one starter taking the mound.

2017 marks Tanaka’s fourth season in the majors after signing with the Yankees out of Japan, and his time here has been very successful so far. He has made five career starts against the Orioles in the past three seasons, with a very good 2.39 ERA and .209/.229/.374 batting line against them.

Gausman, for his part, has been developing a reputation as a Yankee killer. Six of his eleven career starts against New York came in 2016 when he pitched to a gorgeous 1.10 ERA against the Yankees, holding them to a .550 OPS. That’s good, y’all. In his career entire career he has held them to a 1.92 ERA.

Game 3 - Sunday, April 9th, 1:35

Wade Miley (2016: 9-13, 5.37 ERA) vs CC Sabathia (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

Miley hasn’t officially been named the starter for this game, as he is currently on the disabled list recovering from the flu. But unless something unforeseen comes up, he’ll make his first start of the season on Sunday. Will Miley be better this season than he was when he pitched for the Orioles down the stretch last year? Many people say yes as he did seem to be rather unlucky in addition to his poor pitching.

Sabathia spent 2013-15 looking like his goose was cooked, but he bounced back nicely in 2016 with a 3.91 ERA and was the Yankees’ second best starter after Tanaka. It’s just my opinion, but I wouldn’t look for him to have another year of success. He will turn 37 years old during the season and neither time nor his own personal history are on his side.