Yankees vs Orioles Preview: Judge Dawns Robe, Leaves Bench for Lineup
Will Yankees Turn Season Around With Aaron Judge Back?
The New York Yankees will take on the Baltimore Orioles in a three-game series over the weekend. Before the MLB season, nobody expected the Orioles to lead the American League East. Not only are the Orioles leading the AL East, but the Yankees are currently in last place in the division.
It’s been the other way around for many years. But the tables have turned.
New York is eight games out of first place in the division but only 2.5 games out of the AL Wild Card. They’re still looking to make a push for a playoff spot.
Let’s look at the Yankees vs Orioles preview for the weekend series.
Return of Aaron Judge
Aaron Judge is the heart and soul of the New York Yankees, but he’s been away from the diamond since July 3. The Yankees don’t haven’t had many reliable MLB lineups without Judge over the last couple of months.
It’s been reported that the Yankees expect to have Judge back in the lineup to begin this weekend’s series on Friday.
Many contenders will be buying talent at the MLB Trade Deadline. Instead, the Yankees get back one of baseball’s most powerful sluggers. Judge insisted that he won’t be 100% for the rest of the season. But 75% of Judge should be a big boost to a lackluster Yankees lineup.
Can Baltimore Stay in First?
The Orioles are young and exciting. They’re also 62-40 on the season and lead the American League in the MLB baseball standings. However, they’ve lost two straight heading into this series against the Yankees.
Baltimore needs more bullpen help. They could also use a starter or two to help bolster their roster in August.
The Orioles have been linked to Marcus Stroman and Jack Flaherty. They also already added Shintaro Fujinami from the Athletics for their bullpen. The Orioles will make some moves. Those moves will help us decide whether or not the Orioles can stay in first place throughout the season in the AL East.
Below is a Yankees vs Orioles preview of the probable pitchers for this weekend’s series.
Game 1
Gerrit Cole vs. Grayson Rodriguez
Friday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Gerrit Cole will get the start for the Yankees. He’s currently the favorite to win the AL Cy Young award, holding a 9-2 record with a 2.78 ERA on the season.
Cole has allowed a .128 ISO and wOBA of .280 throughout the season to 521 batters. He’s also struck out over 27% of batters.
Cole will face rookie phenom Grayson Rodriguez of the Orioles. Rodriguez has a 6.91 ERA on the season. But he’s now on his second stint in the majors. The second stint has been much better. In the last month, Rodriguez has allowed a .079 ISO and woBA of .304 to his previous 42 batters faced. He’s also struck out close to 24% of batters and has limited walks to 9.5%.
Meanwhile, the Yankees haven’t hit many right-handed batters well over the last 30 days. Gleybar Torres has hit a .168 ISO and wOBA of .339. Jake Bauers and Billy McKinney have been consistent enough. Plus, the addition of Aaron Judge against righties should help. But overall, they’ve been below-average offensively against righties over the last month.
Although Rodriguez is pitching better as of late, the Yankees are still slightly favorites with Cole on the mound, holding a -121 line. The Orioles are +111 at home. Meanwhile, the total is currently at 8.5, with the Over juiced to -115/-105. Our baseball betting advice would be to take the Under in this game.
Game 2
Clarke Schmidt vs. Tyler Wells
Saturday, 7:15 p.m. ET
Our Yankees vs Orioles preview doesn’t end after the first game. We’re breaking down the entire series.
In Game 2, Clarke Schmidt will take the hill for the Yankees. Schmidt is a right-handed thrower who has struggled against left-handed hitters. He’s allowed a .269 ISO and wOBA of .355 to his last 58 lefties. He’s also giving up more fly balls than ground balls induced in the previous 30 days to lefties.
The Orioles have four lefties in their lineup that have hit an above-average ISO and a high wOBA against righties over the last month.
On the other hand, Tyler Wells will get the ball for the Orioles. Wells has watched his last 69 righties faced hit a .310 ISO and woBA of .382. The Yankees typically have more righties than lefties in their lineup. This would be a good spot for Aaron Judge.
Game 3
Luis Severino vs. Dean Kremer
Sunday, 7:10 p.m. ET
It’s been a dreadful month for Luis Severino. He’s allowed a .329 ISO and wOBA of .490 to his last 91 batters faced. On the season, he’s got an ERA of 6.46 and has allowed 256 batters to hit a .253 ISO and wOBA of .406. He’s been awful against both sides of the plate and hasn’t even earned a high rate of strikeouts this year.
Severino won’t be the only one to get blasted in this game. Dean Kremer will take the hill for the Orioles. He’s allowed a .387 ISO and wOBA of .428 to his last 36 lefties. He’s also allowed a .199 ISO and wOBA of .348 to his previous 211 lefties.
This game will be featured on ESPN and should be where we get the most hits and runs.
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