A’s at Yankees Series Preview

Off to the Bronx for a weekend series with the Yanks

The A’s departed Detroit losing two of three to the team with the best record in the American League. Things won’t get any easier for the squad as they travel to New York to take on the powerhouse Yankees on their home turf. These two teams have already faced off in a series earlier this year, with the Yankees winning a high-scoring series in Sacramento two games to one. The Bronx Bombers have been on a skid of late, losing nine of their last 15 games. Maybe the A’s can take advantage of a Yankees squad hitting their midseason slump.

• Yankees W/L record: 46-34 (1st in AL East)
• Run differential: +110
• Team OPS: .786 (2nd of 30)
• Team ERA: 3.47 (7th of 30)

Another year, another season of the Yankees dominating the sport. Using their deep pockets as always they’ve put together a team that seems just as lethal as last season’s AL pennant-winning squad. Led by MVP Aaron Judge they’ve more or less picked right up where they left off from last season. They currently sit on top of an always competitive AL East, though entering this weekend series with the A’s they only possess a half-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays and a three-game lead over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Enough can’t be said about the load that Judge shoulders for the Bombers’ offense, but they’ve also gotten big years out of multiple other position players. From Paul Goldschmidt to Jazz Chisholm to Cody Bellinger to the recently returned Giancarlo Stanton and more, this team has a lineup that can make any pitcher pay at any split second. The team, which is second in the entire league in long balls, currently has six players in double digit home runs and could have eight by the end of the weekend. There aren’t many weak spots in this New York lineup.

Everyone expected the Yankees to have a potent offense this season. Their pitching has been the surprise. In spite of ace right-hander Gerrit Cole going down for the season in March to Tommy John surgery and then last season’s Rookie of the Year winner Luis Gil missing all of the season to date, they have still managed to put together a strong starting five that ranks among the best in the game. Their top three of Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, and Clarke Schmidt are one of the top trio of arms in the entire league with sub-3 ERA’s, and Ryan Yarbrough was putting together a quality season in the mid-rotation before going on the IL with an oblique strain a few days ago. Luckily for the A’s they’ll likely only see one of those arms this weekend. The backend of New York’s bullpen is not quite settled as Devin Williams and Luke Weaver are currently splitting closing duties, though both can be dominating.

The A’s meanwhile are just hoping to avoid the worst record in the American League, a title which currently belongs to the Chicago White Sox. The Athletics are just six games ahead of the worst team in the AL and that’s despite having a Rookie of the Year, All-Star, MVP-contending shortstop named Jacob Wilson at or near the top of the lineup everyday. Despite having another potential couple All-Star position players, too.

The pitching has been that bad. The starting rotation has been inconsistent at best but especially the bullpen, which has had problems for the past two months in the worst possible way. Worse yet, there doesn’t seem to be any fix for that, so the A’s just need to keep rolling the dice with young arms and hope to eventually hit on some that can help out into the future. Going up against a high-powered lineup like the Yankees possess doesn’t seem like the ideal time for a turnaround but it’ll have to start somewhere some time, right?

In a bit of strange coincidence, all three of the Athletics’ starting pitchers scheduled for this series either once pitched for the Yankees or were a farmhand. Tonight’s contest will open the series with a duel between right-handers Mitch Spence and Will Warren. Spence, who was a former Yankee farmhand before getting selected by the A’s in the Rule 5 Draft back in 2023, will be aiming to continue his blistering return to a starting role. Since getting promoted from the bullpen the 27-year-old has looked comfortable and in control, allowing just six runs over four starts. Worryingly, four of those runs came in his previous outing, when he couldn’t manage to finish five full frames. Before that, he’d pitched five full innings each time out, no more and no less. With six games left to go on this road trip, five solid innings out of Spence would be welcomed.

Warren on the other hand has been in the New York starting rotation all season due to injuries to other arms higher on New York’s preferred depth chart. The 26-year-old second-year pitcher has held his own with a 4.66 ERA through 16 starts. He struggled mightily at the outset of the year but has gotten better as the season has progressed. He has a 3.47 ERA in four starts this month facing some tough lineups. Add in the fact that he’s already faced and dominated the Athletics earlier this season (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER), and tonight’s contest could end up being a low-scoring affair.

Lefty JP Sears will get the call for the A’s for an early morning contest on Saturday. We all know that Sears was the team’s best and most consistent pitcher for the first month and a half of the season, and since then he’s been one of the biggest liabilities among the starting five, especially during May. He’s been slowly getting back on track over the month of June but still has an inflated 6.08 ERA in five starts this month. If he can replicate his earlier lone outing this year against the Yankees (5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER), the A’s would take that in a heart beat. Overall the third-year lefty has a 5.44 ERA in 16 starts this season.

Yankees right-hander Clarke Schmidt is going to be going up against Sears tomorrow. A former top prosect in New York’s system, Schmidt has ascended to the top of the Yankees’ starting rotation, posting a terrific 2.84 ERA that is only second-best on the team but that’ll surely send him to the All-Star Game next month. Now in his sixth year in the major leagues, the 29-year-old is continuing the success and growth that he showed during an injury-shortened season year. He’s yet to face the A’s this season but has a 5.14 ERA in four career starts against the Athletics, which we like.

Wrapping up the series with another morning game, Luis Severino will get the ball for the visiting squad, facing his former Yankee teammates for just the second time in his career. The first time came earlier this season and it was probably his worst start of the year, maybe even of his career: over four complete innings Sevy yielded eight earned runs in what became a blowout loss. Face it to say, he’s got some payback on his mind when he returns to the place he called home for a huge portion of his career. He won’t be scared of the bright lights of New York, but he’ll be limping into Yankees Stadium having posted a nasty 7.14 ERA over five starts this month.

The Yankees on the other hand have yet to officially announce their starting pitcher for Sunday’s finale. They could skip the fifth starter’s spot this turn through their rotation and go with lefty Carlos Rodon on normal rest to finish the series. If not, the other option is likely right-handed rookie Allan Winans, who only just made his first start of the season earlier this week. Something worth keeping an eye on over the next two days.