Yankees

Yankees-Mariners Preview: Pitching Matchups, Storylines And What To Watch

By ••4 min read
Yankees-Mariners Preview: Pitching Matchups, Storylines And What To Watch

The Yankees have a very clear job this week: beat a struggling Seattle Mariners team at home and keep applying pressure in the American League East.

New York opens a three-game series against Seattle Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium sitting at 66-52, second in the AL East and 5.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays.

At this point of the season, nobody wants to hear about moral victories, tough losses or how competitive a game was. The Yankees are trying to hunt down Tampa Bay while protecting their position in the Wild Card race. When a 56-63 team walks into your building riding a four-game losing streak, this is a series you should win.

Yankees Have Survived Without Their Biggest Stars

The impressive part about where the Yankees currently stand is that they have been forced to do it without Aaron Judge.

Judge remains on the 60-day injured list because of the right rib stress fracture that has sidelined him since early June. He has recently progressed to light running and upper-body work, but a return still appears to be weeks away.

Giancarlo Stanton and Carlos Rodón have also been among the significant absences New York has dealt with.

Instead of one dominant offensive force carrying the club every night, the Yankees have leaned heavily on pitching, depth and finding ways to survive close games.

Their run differential remains north of +80, and recently the pitching staff has given New York a chance almost every night.

They split their latest set with Atlanta after winning the first two games before dropping a tight 2-1 game on August 9. New York is 5-5 over its last 10.

Not spectacular. Not terrible. But if you’re trying to catch the team ahead of you, playing .500 baseball isn’t going to get it done for very long.

Seattle Is Walking Into The Bronx In Trouble

Seattle enters the series at 56-63 and third in the AL West.

The Mariners have lost four straight, are 3-7 over their last 10 and have been awful away from home. Their 23-34 road record tells you just about everything you need to know.

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Seattle hasn’t won a road series since late May.

Now they get Yankee Stadium.

Then Houston.

Then Milwaukee.

That is the type of road trip that can officially bury a season.

The Mariners’ pitching has kept them respectable, but their offense has continuously failed to provide enough support. Seattle sits near the bottom of baseball in several offensive categories and has spent too many nights asking its pitchers to be nearly perfect.

Against this Yankees pitching staff, that can become a serious problem.

Pitching Matchups Give Yankees An Opportunity

Tuesday’s opener has Ryan Weathers going against Bryan Woo.

Weathers enters at 5-7 with a 3.79 ERA and has been excellent recently, putting together consecutive scoreless outings. Woo is 8-8 with a 4.31 ERA, although he has pitched well in the Bronx before.

Wednesday brings Will Warren against Bryce Miller. Warren has experienced some ups and downs with an ERA sitting in the mid-4.00s, while Miller comes in around 3.08 and could present Seattle’s best opportunity to control a game from the mound.

Then Thursday gets interesting.

Max Fried takes the ball for New York against Logan Gilbert in what looks like the best pitching matchup of the series. Fried has pitched to a sub-3.00 ERA, while Gilbert enters around the mid-3.00s.

If this series becomes three nights of low-scoring baseball, New York should feel comfortable with that.

Yankees Have Owned Seattle In The Bronx

The Yankees already took two of three from Seattle earlier this season.

The Mariners have also lost six consecutive games at Yankee Stadium and haven’t exactly made a habit of coming into the Bronx and winning series over the last several years.

Both clubs have battled stretches of poor batting averages, hovering around the .230 range as teams, but there is a major difference.

New York has significantly more home-run capability.

One swing can change a 1-0 game. One mistake over the plate can turn into three runs immediately.

Without Judge, the Yankees don’t have their biggest weapon, but they still have enough power throughout the lineup to punish a team that struggles to score.

This Is A Series The Yankees Should Win

Seattle still has enough starting pitching to make these games uncomfortable. Nobody should expect the Mariners to simply show up and roll over.

But look at the situation.

The Yankees are home. They’re the better team. Their pitching has been strong. Seattle can’t win on the road. The Mariners aren’t hitting, and their season is quickly reaching desperation territory.

Two out of three should be the minimum expectation.

A sweep would be even better.

Because Tampa Bay isn’t going to voluntarily hand the division back to New York.

The Yankees have spent months surviving injuries and keeping themselves within striking distance. Now comes the part of the schedule where surviving isn’t enough.

Start beating the teams you’re supposed to beat.

Seattle is first.

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