Baseball’s a weird sport. Vibes can shift so quickly. I mean, Boston fans probably felt absolutely miserable about three weeks ago and now they haven’t lost since America was only 249 years old. The Rays, once 19 games over .500 and five games up in the AL East, are cooling off (though the collapsing Blue Jays are getting them back on track). Don’t even get me started on the rollercoasters we’ve seen in the NL.
The Yankees are on their own rollercoaster. They’ve definitely hit a major drop with the injuries piling up and leading to three weeks of utter misery. A sweep of the middling Washington Nationals helped calm things into the break, but a frustrating series against the back-to-back champion Dodgers put people back in a bad mood. Yet, if you want to think positively, they’ve now won six of their last eight games ahead of today’s opportunity to win an interleague series for the third time in six tries.
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Looking to start the doubleheader on a high note is a former Pirates All-Star in Gerrit Cole, who will make his 11th start of the season. His first 10 have been all over the place, pitching to a 3.93 ERA (108 ERA+) and 3.94 FIP in 55 innings after a strong outing was spoiled late against the Dodgers on Friday. He’s giving up too many home runs, but his walk rate has been elite. He’ll be facing the team that drafter him first overall in 2011 out of UCLA for just the third time in his career and first since September 2023.
Opposing Cole will be one of just three starting pitchers to be named an All-Star in Pittsburgh since his departure. You know the Cy Young winner who the Yankees aren’t facing this series, Paul Skenes, and a fresh All-Star pitched on Monday (Braxton Ashcraft), but this one is 2023 All-Star Mitch Keller, who’s a rare Pirate to ink a long-term extension, in the third year of a five-year, $77 million pact. The latest campaign hasn’t gone to plan for him, though, as he’s pitching to a 5.14 ERA (85 ERA+) and 4.47 FIP in 19 starts and 103 innings, his worst year since his first full season in 2021.
Keller isn’t quite as bad as he’s been, but he’s regressed over the past few years. He’s no longer able to limit hard contact the way he used to, has seen his strikeout rate absolutely plummet, is walking more batters, and isn’t able to get the ball on the ground anymore. All of that is a bad formula. He throws seven different pitches, using all of them against lefties and only four against righties. The kitchen sink hasn’t been that effective, mostly because Keller has a propensity to leave his low-90s fastball and sinker in the middle of the plate.
It’s a pretty interesting lineup for the Yanks in the first game of the doubleheader against a guy who has major issues with lefty batters. Trent Grisham leads off, followed by Ben Rice and recently-promoted 27th man Spencer Jones, batting third and DHing. Cody Bellinger is cleaning up and in left, followed by Jasson Domínguez in right and Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second base. José Caballero, Ryan McMahon, and Austin Wells round out the lineup.
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Jake Mangum will lead off for the Buccos, followed by Brandon Lowe, Bryan Reynolds, and rookie sensation Esmerlyn Valdez. Ryan O’Hearn bats fifth at DH, followed by Nick Gonzales, Jacob Gonzalez, Henry Davis, and Tyler Callihan.
How to watch
Location: Yankee Stadium — The Bronx, NY
First pitch: 1:05 pm ET
TV broadcast: YES, SportsNet Pittsburgh
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY), 100.1 FM/KDKA-AM 1020 (PIT)
Online stream: MLB.tv (out-of-market only)
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