Yankees - Angels@ Angel Stadium
(four games)
Winners of 13 of their last 15 the Yankees are looking like one of the better teams in the league. They a 51-34, a season best 17 games over .500, and tied for first in the AL East with Boston. Offensively they lead all of baseball in OBP (.358), SLG (.469), and OPS (.827), and walks (362). They're also second in BA (.275) HR (126), and hits (815). As soon as they get their fifth starter situation figured out and Alfredo Aceves back in the bullpen, I'll feel even better about things.
Coming into the final series of the first half with Angels the Yanks have won three in a row - completing a season sweep of the Twins - six of their last seven, and eight in a row on the road.
Of course playing the Angels is never fun. The Yankees 58-68 record against them over the past 13 seasons shows how tough they've been. This year they've had to overcome numerous injuries as well as a tragedy with the death of Nick Adenhart, but still they find themselves at 46-37, just a half-game back of the first place Rangers in the West.
The Angels have a lot of quality hitters in their lineup, Five regulars are hitting over .300 - Juan Rivera (.313), Chone Figgins (.310), Torii Hunter (.305), Bobby Abreu (.304), and Maicer Izturis (.302). They have four others hitting above .282. All that adds up to an MLB leading team batting average of .281. They also like to run, ranking second in baseball with 83 stolen bases. Offensively they will be a little short-handed this series. Hunter is likely headed to the DL with a groin injury, and Guerrero is day-to-day with a leg injury.
It's been a rough year for the Angels pitching staff, currently they rank 27th in baseball with a 4.75 team ERA. Their bullpen has been especially bad, as they've racked up an ERA of 5.01, ranking 28th in the sport. The Yankees will be facing three of their top starters this weekend, with Joe Saunders going tonight, Jered Weaver starting the middle game, and John Lackey starting the finale. Weaver is having the best year of the three, posting a 9-3 record with an ERA of just 3.15. Both Saunder (8-5, 4.44 ERA) and Lackey (3-4, 5.18 ERA) have struggled.
The Yanks took two out of three the first time around and I'd like to see them do the same this time. With Torii Hunter out and Saunders and Lackey struggling the Yanks need to take advantage.
Pitching MatchupsComing into the final series of the first half with Angels the Yanks have won three in a row - completing a season sweep of the Twins - six of their last seven, and eight in a row on the road.
Of course playing the Angels is never fun. The Yankees 58-68 record against them over the past 13 seasons shows how tough they've been. This year they've had to overcome numerous injuries as well as a tragedy with the death of Nick Adenhart, but still they find themselves at 46-37, just a half-game back of the first place Rangers in the West.
The Angels have a lot of quality hitters in their lineup, Five regulars are hitting over .300 - Juan Rivera (.313), Chone Figgins (.310), Torii Hunter (.305), Bobby Abreu (.304), and Maicer Izturis (.302). They have four others hitting above .282. All that adds up to an MLB leading team batting average of .281. They also like to run, ranking second in baseball with 83 stolen bases. Offensively they will be a little short-handed this series. Hunter is likely headed to the DL with a groin injury, and Guerrero is day-to-day with a leg injury.
It's been a rough year for the Angels pitching staff, currently they rank 27th in baseball with a 4.75 team ERA. Their bullpen has been especially bad, as they've racked up an ERA of 5.01, ranking 28th in the sport. The Yankees will be facing three of their top starters this weekend, with Joe Saunders going tonight, Jered Weaver starting the middle game, and John Lackey starting the finale. Weaver is having the best year of the three, posting a 9-3 record with an ERA of just 3.15. Both Saunder (8-5, 4.44 ERA) and Lackey (3-4, 5.18 ERA) have struggled.
The Yanks took two out of three the first time around and I'd like to see them do the same this time. With Torii Hunter out and Saunders and Lackey struggling the Yanks need to take advantage.
Game 1: Tonight @ 10:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS
RHP Joba Chamberlain (4-2, 4.04) vs. LHP Joe Saunders (8-5, 4.44)
Game 2: Tomorrow @ 4:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: FOX, WCBS
LHP Andy Pettitte (8-4, 4.53) vs. RHP Jered Weaver (9-3, 3.15)
Game 3: Sunday @ 3:35 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS
LHP CC Sabathia (8-5, 3.70) vs. RHP John Lackey (3-4, 5.18)
Players to Watch
YANKEES: Mark Teixeira - After hitting his first homer in almost a month I think the Yankees all-star first baseman could be ready for a big series against his former team. He has started to heat up over his last six games, hitting .346/.433/.500 with a homer and 2 RBI.
He hasn't had much success against the Angels throughout his career, hitting just .252/.360/.463 with 16 HR and 57 RBI in 87 games. And this year he went just 1-for-11 with 3 walks in the first series between these two teams. Though he was hitting .185 at the time so he really wasn't hitting anybody.
Teixeira vs. Saunders: .222/.364/.222 (2-for-9)
Teixeira vs. Weaver: .188/.316/.563 (3-for-16), 2 HR, 5 RBI
Teixeira vs. Lackey: .400/.481/.578 (18-for-45) 2 HR, 11 RBI
Teixeira vs. Weaver: .188/.316/.563 (3-for-16), 2 HR, 5 RBI
Teixeira vs. Lackey: .400/.481/.578 (18-for-45) 2 HR, 11 RBI
ANGELS: Chone Figgins - One of the keys to this series is that the Yankees keep this pest off the bases. Usually, it doesn't work out that way. In 48 games against the Yanks Figgins is hitting .320/.383/.407 with 2 HR, 22 RBI, and 14 stolen bases. But in three games against the Yanks this season he's hitting .200/.385/.400 with a triple and an RBI.
He's having a very good first half, hitting .310/.395/.401 with a homer, 16 doubles, 5 triples, 27 RBI, 24 steals, and leads the team with 99 hits.
Figgins vs. Chamberlain: NR
Figgins vs. Pettitte: .357/.400/.357 (5-for-14) with 3 RBI
Figgins vs. Sabathia: .250/.400/.500 (3-for-12) with a homer and 1 RBI
Figgins vs. Pettitte: .357/.400/.357 (5-for-14) with 3 RBI
Figgins vs. Sabathia: .250/.400/.500 (3-for-12) with a homer and 1 RBI
Injury Report
YANKEES:
- Chien-Ming Wang, SP: 15-day DL with a strained right shoulder. The Yanks are hoping for an early August return.
- Xavier Nady, RF: Done for year, season-ending Tommy John surgery. 10-12 months to recover.
- Damaso Marte, RP: 15-day DL with a sore shoulder. He supposed to throw batting practice on Saturday. I don't know if this means anything, but it's better than catch.
ANGELS:
- Tori Hunter, CF: 15-day DL with a strain of the adductor muscle in his right groin. He may need to go on the DL.
- Vladimir Guerrero, OF: 15-day DL with a leg injury.
- Kelvim Escobar, SP: 15-day DL with right shoulder tenderness.
- Scot Shields, RP: 60-day DL after having season-ending surgery on his left knee.
- Dustin Moseley, SP: 60-day DL with right elbow irritation.
- Shane Loux, SP/RP: 15-day with right shoulder tendinitis.
- Chien-Ming Wang, SP: 15-day DL with a strained right shoulder. The Yanks are hoping for an early August return.
- Xavier Nady, RF: Done for year, season-ending Tommy John surgery. 10-12 months to recover.
- Damaso Marte, RP: 15-day DL with a sore shoulder. He supposed to throw batting practice on Saturday. I don't know if this means anything, but it's better than catch.
ANGELS:
- Tori Hunter, CF: 15-day DL with a strain of the adductor muscle in his right groin. He may need to go on the DL.
- Vladimir Guerrero, OF: 15-day DL with a leg injury.
- Kelvim Escobar, SP: 15-day DL with right shoulder tenderness.
- Scot Shields, RP: 60-day DL after having season-ending surgery on his left knee.
- Dustin Moseley, SP: 60-day DL with right elbow irritation.
- Shane Loux, SP/RP: 15-day with right shoulder tendinitis.
3 Comments:
Solid post, man. I hope they figure out the fifth starter problem soon too. I really think it's gotta be Hughes. If Bruney can figure it out, we can put him back in the 8th inning role and move Hughes to the rotation. I think Joba's time is up.
But who knows... Halladay?
Thanks Dan.... Bruney is a huge wild card in this whole thing. If he can get back to what he was doing before the injury, he's a perfect fit for the 8th. If he regains his form they have several more options. Though I love what Hughes has done in the pen.
If I'm the Yanks I keep the pen as is, and piece things together with Mitre and maybe Nova after another few Triple-A starts.
With the ASB they only have to come up with a starter for four games. Unless Wang's return gets pushed back, then that would make things a bit more complicated.
Unfortunately, I can see the Yanks losing two of three in this series. I don't like tonight's or tomorrow's matchup.
Going against Lackey is tough, too, but at least that's a CC start.
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