Should Bettors Trust Gerrit Cole on Wednesday?
Orioles vs Yankees Series Preview: New York's Pitching Is Beyond Better

The two best American League teams will square off in a three-game series in the Bronx. The Yankees were the first team to have 50 wins. They’re now 50-24 on the MLB season and will welcome back star pitcher Gerrit Cole for his first start on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Orioles are 47-24 and have won many MLB games with misfits in the starting rotation. Below, we’ll share our Orioles vs Yankees series preview for this mid-week series.
Heading into tonight’s series, the Yankees certainly have the better pitching matchups. Will that be enough to win the home series and keep their position as the No. 1 team in the American League East?
Orioles vs Yankees 
Records: Baltimore Orioles (47-24), New York Yankees (50-24)
Day/Time:
Location: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
Streaming: YES, MASN, TBS
Baltimore Calimed Nick Avila Off Waivers
The Orioles have announced that they’ve claimed right-hander Nick Avila off the release waivers from the San Francisco Giants.
The Giants selected Spencer Bivens onto the big league roster and were forced to give up Avila. The Orioles picked him up but sent him to the Triple-A’s Injured List with a shoulder impingement.
Gerrit Cole’s Return
The Yankees’ ace, Gerrit Cole, is set to make his season debut on Wednesday against the Orioles. Cole had been on the injured list with a right elbow injury but is fully healthy and prepared to make his first Major League start of the season.
With Cole back, the Yankees standings are looking even better.
Orioles vs Yankees Series Preview & Odds For Game 1:
RL: Yankees -1.5 (+136) ML: Yankees -148, O/U: 9 -110/-110
âš¾ Game 1 âš¾
- Tuesday, 7:05 pm ET
- Albert Suarez vs Nestor Cortes
The Orioles will start Albert Suarez for the first game of the series. The Baltimore right-hander has allowed a .080 ISO and wOBA of .259 to his last 87 batters. However, lefties have still hit a .160 ISO and wOBA of .325 with 19.4% of walks in the previous 30 days.
Ultimately, Suarez has allowed more walks than strikeouts to lefties in the last 30 days, with just 16.1% of strikeouts in that time frame.
Meanwhile, the Yankees have some lethal lefties between Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo. Anthony Rizzo is out for at least a month with an MLB injury, but Soto and Verdugo should lead the way in tonight’s matchup against Suarez.
On the flip side, the Yankees will throw Nestor Cortes. He’s a lefty with a 3.59 ERA on the season. However, Cortes has been poor against righties over the last 30 days.
He’s allowed a .232 ISO and wOBA of .362, with more fly balls allowed than ground balls induced to righties.
The Orioles don’t hit well against left-handed pitchers, but they’ll likely have seven righties in the lineup. This could be the game that gets the Orioles’ offense going against lefties.
After looking through the MLB lines, consider the Over 9 (-110) for Game 1 of this series.
âš¾ Game 2 âš¾
- Wednesday, 7:05 pm ET
- Cade Povich vs Gerrit Cole
The Yankees will grab some headlines in Game 2. Gerrit Cole is set to make his season debut. Last season, Cole held MLB teams to a .116 ISO and wOBA of .259 with 27% of strikeouts and 5.7% of walks. While he didn’t add a high rate of grounders, Cole rarely had any blemishes last season in his AL Cy Young quest.
That said, the Orioles have hit righties better than lefties this season. It’s hard to imagine Baltimore consistently succeeding against the former CY Young winner.
On the other hand, lefty Cade Povich will take the hill for the Orioles. He’s thrown to 49 batters and has a .091 ISO and wOBA of .285. He’s pitched well against righties this season but only struck out 16.5% of batters.
The Yankees will likely have a hefty price with Cole on the mound. Instead, our MLB expert picks will include the Under for this game.
âš¾ Game 3 âš¾
- Thursday, 4:05 pm ET
- Cole Irvin vs Luis Gil
Baltimore will run it back with another lefty in Game 3. Cole Irvin will get the call, but he’s been awful against righties over the last 30 days despite his ERA sitting at just 3.03.
His analytics will catch up to him eventually. After all, Irvin has allowed a .211 ISO and wOBA of .397, with only 29.1% of ground balls induced over the last month. Irvin has also earned 13.3% of strikeouts against righties and allowed 35.4% of fly balls with 30.4% of line drives.
He won’t want to face Aaron Judge, who has smoked a .389 ISO and wOBA of .465 against lefties over the last 30 days. Over the previous month, Soto, Verdugo, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gleybar Torres have also hit for solid power against lefties.
Conversely, New York will pitch Luis Gil. He’s got a 2.03 ERA, and it’s more warranted. He’s held teams to a .207 wOBA over the last 30 days and has earned 29.1% of strikeouts. His walks against lefties have crept up, but it’s not as high as earlier in the season.
Again, the Yankees match up better to close out the series. They’ve got one of the best MLB pitching staffs, and it’ll show this weekend. Back the Yankees in the final game of this Orioles vs Yankees series preview.
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