Yanks, Indians. Series Preview.

The Yanks are coming off a miserable weekend in the Bronx where they were swept by the Blue Jays while plating just one run in three games.  The lead in the loss column has now dwindled down to 3 and the world is ready to anoint Toronto American League East Division Champs.  Fans are very fickle and a few wins in Cleveland over the next three days will change that rhetoric very quickly.  But if this team is going to get back on track then the bats are going to have to wake up and that starts with the guys at the top, most notably Jacoby Ellsbury.  The guy has been awful since coming back from the DL.  I thought maybe that big home run against the Sox the other night might get him going but he still looks lost at the plate, not to mention the fact that he hasn't stolen a base since coming back on July 8th. 

Cleveland is not a good team, but they're not an awful team.  They just put up 34 runs over the weekend against the Twins and their pitching is pretty good.  Thankfully Corey Kluber, one of the best pitchers in baseball, isn't slated to pitch this series but the Indians will be sending out plenty of good, young, talented arms to try and keep the Yankee offense stifling.

Pitching Match-Ups

Tonight, 7:10 PM.  Luis Severino (0-1, 1.80) vs. Carlos Carrasco (11-8, 3.76)

Carlos Carrasco is one of the best young pitchers in baseball.  He's coming off back-to-back nine-inning performances, having allowed just one run in those 18 innings.  For a stretch during those two starts, opposing batters were 0-38 against Carrasco.  So yea, he's throwing the ball well.

Severino will be looking to build off his last and only start in the majors where he allowed just two hits and one earned run against the Red Sox in five innings.  He wasn't very economical his last time out and seemed to have trouble putting hitters away despite striking out seven and walking none.  But his arm looked live, he looked very confident and composed and now he'll have to throw on the road greys for the first time and try to do it against an offense that's swinging the bats really well.

Wednesday, 7:10 PM.  CC Sabathia (4-8, 5.34) vs. Danny Salazar (9-6, 3.38)

Salazar has great stuff but was never really able to fully harness it until the second half of last year.  He throws hard and has two pretty good out pitches, a nasty slider and a split-change.  In four starts since the All-Star break he has a 2.03 ERA and has never faced the Yankees.

He'll be opposed by Carsten Charles Sabathia who probably had his best start in three seasons Thursday night against the Red Sox.  He touched 93-94 on the gun with his fastball for the first time in years and finished with a very respectable line (6 IP, ER, 8 Ks, 3 H) while getting a no-decision in a game the Yankees would eventually win.  This is a pretty big game for CC.  We saw a guy the other night that we had not seen in quite some time and now we're going to see if that guy's here to stay.

Thursday, 7:10 PM.  Nate Eovaldi (11-2, 4.15) vs. Trevor Bauer (9-8, 4.06)

Bauer is another guy who was a highly touted prospect but has been very enigmatic on his way to becoming a fortified big league starter.  He throws hard and misses bats but his numbers aren't all that impressive otherwise.  His command isn't great and he's been known to give up a few long balls so that should play right into the Yankees' hands.

Nate Eovaldi, coming off what I thought was his most impressive start of the season against Toronto on Friday, will take the ball in game 3.  He's 6-0 in his last nine starts and has been fantastic since the debacle in Miami.  Is he in the circle of trust yet?  He's getting there.  He still gives up a lot of hits, doesn't get a lot of strikeouts and can't go deep into games.  But he limits damage, gets out of trouble and is usually good for 5-6 quality innings.  He doesn't exactly inspire confidence as a postseason starter but if he keeps pitching like this he may force his way into the conversation.


Though you may have been lead to believe the Yankees are trailing the Blue Jays in the division, they are in fact LEADING the AL East by 3 games in the loss column.  So let's be real for a second.  The Yankees certainly aren't as bad as they played this past weekend and the Blue Jays definitely are not as good as they've played since the trade deadline.  There's a lot of baseball left and plenty of opportunity to pad that lead.  But be that as it may, this is still a huge series for the Yankees as they are very much in the thick of a pennant race.  They catch a little bit of a break visiting Cleveland this week while Jason Kipnis is on DL with a shoulder issue.  The best player on the field for the Indians is Michael Brantley (.313/.388/.460).  Carlos Santana has some pop but is otherwise a very flawed offensive player.  Their closer Cody Allen kind of sucks.  The most exciting player on the team is probably rookie shortstop Francisco Lindor who's supposed to be ridiculous defensively.  Overall, this is just a very mediocre team.  Oh, and we just missed our old pal Nick Swisher who was shipped to Atlanta a few days ago after the non-waiver trade deadline.  I guess in Cleveland being the ultimate bro isn't enough to mask the fact that you suck at baseball.