Series Preview: Yankees @ Angels (Long ball)

Well, how about that. A week ago (or so), no team in baseball had more home runs than the Angels, but the Yankees hit 16 over the past 7 days. Whatever happens in this series - we can expect it to be a bit of a slugfest - barring any major marine layer effect.

Despite some offensive woes, the Angels as a team still hit 10 home runs over the past week - tied for 3rd in baseball behind the Yankees and Astros. However - their batting average tanked bad - all the way down to .170 which was last in all of baseball. If the Angels hope to win some games in this series - they are going to need to find their bats again - especially at home where they have the second worst AVG in MLB at .211.

Last year the Angels beat the Yankees 4 games to 2 and over the past 3 seasons in Anaheim the Angels have a slight edge with a 5-4 record.

We will be treated with Sunday Night baseball this weekend. Guess that’s what happens when your team plays the mainstream media darlings from NYC.

Know your foe:

Yankees who’s hot (last 7 days):
Didi Gregorious .407/.452/.852 with 4 home runs and 12 RBIs
Miguel Andujar .357/.357/.750 with 2 home runs and 5 doubles
Tyler Austin .350/.381/.900 with 3 home runs and 9 RBIs
Aaron Judge .333/.485/.667 with 2 home runs and 2 doubles

Notes: Stanton and Judge struck out 19 times last week in 64 plate appearances

GAME 1

Andrew Heaney v. Luis Severino
Friday, April 27th @ 7:07PM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Relevant Stats

Summary:

Which Heaney will we get in game 1? Neither of his starts have been all that stellar this year, but the hope is to NOT get the version that started against the Giants last week, giving up 3 home runs and 7 runs over 4.1 innings.

Luis Severino has only given up 1 home run in 31 innings this year. He got knocked around when the Red Sox were on a tear, but has been pretty solid this season. The Angels faced him last June and scored 5 runs over 6 innings.

Verdict: Severio has been the much more solid pitcher this year but Heaney could have a strong showing. The fear for the later is that he is prone to home runs, and well - the Yankees are REALLY good at hitting them.

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GAME 2

Garrett Richards v. Masahiro Tanaka
Saturday, April 28th @ 6:07PM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Relevant Stats

Summary:

Garrett Richards struggled his way though his first starts a bit but last time out racked up a record 11 Ks over 6 innings which is hopefully a sign he is turning things around after walking 15 batters in his first 20 innings.

Tanaka has been.. well, not great. He has had a few good outing (against Toronto and Minnesota), but was also thrashed by Boston and Miami. In total, he’s given up 5 home runs and 16 ER over 29 innings. Last year he held the Angels to just 1 run over 6.2 innings.

Verdict: If Richards is over his early season woes, he should have the edge in this matchup. Both pitchers could go 6+ innings here before turning it over to the bullpen.

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GAME 3

Tyler Skaggs v. CC Sabathia
Sunday, April 29th @ 5:07PM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Relevant Stats

Summary:

Aside from a bad start against the Red Sox, Skaggs has been stellar. Taking out that game, he’s allowed only 3 runs over 23 innings, including 7 shutout innings against the Astros. Skaggs hasn’t faced much of this Yankees roster.

The Yankees are probably pretty happy they brought Sabathia back for 2018. He’s put up zeros in his last two games - not allowing an earned run over 10.1 innings with only 6 hits.

Verdict: Possibly a strong matchup here that really could go either way.

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Overall Verdict: This is another series that could easily swing in either direction. Both sides are putting up some good pitches and both sides have some serious power in their bats.