This past weekend, the Yankees had an exceptional series with the Cleveland Guardians, completing their first series sweep of 2022. With a division rival in the form of the Baltimore Orioles coming to town, this is a chance for the Yankees to build a lead on a divisional foe and keep their hot streak going and continue their battle to maintain first in the American League East. Tremendous efforts around the diamond were undoubtedly the key factor in this series’ success, making their effort in this series as close to a team effort as you can get.
New York Yankees (10-6, 2nd AL East 0.5 GB) vs. Baltimore Orioles (6-10, 5th AL East 4.5 GB)
The Yankees have their work cut out for them, as for an unexplainable reason, the Orioles have had their number in the past year, making games closer than they should be and, as we saw last week, coming away with the series victory. If you’re the Yankees, this is unacceptable. The Orioles (contrary to my previous slander) are a rebuilding franchise, a very slowly rebuilding franchise at that, but they have the talent to win them games. Now more than ever, the Orioles are a legitimate nuisance in the AL East. in the upcoming series, the Yankees will likely see Jordan Lyles, Tyler Wells, and Bruce Zimmermann, similar to what they had seen just over a week ago in Baltimore. That being said, getting now a second look at these pitchers could work to the Yankees’ benefit. It is expected to come off a series where the Yanks decimated Guardians pitching and hoped that the momentum from that series would carry over into this one. Yankee pitching has been borderline dominant this season, so they are not what anyone should be concerned with, as the Yankees will likely send the O’s familiar faces as well, with Luis Severino, Jordan Montgomery, and Jameson Taillon.
Players to watch: Joey Gallo and the Yankees bullpen
It will be a long time before I can omit Gallo as a player to watch and feel comfortable about it. He has not lived up to any expectations (or he has, depending on your preseason opinions of him) and is dangerously close to hitting below .100. BELOW. .100. You’d have to think even most minor league teams would have benched that kind of a batting average by now. So, as we have already done for sixteen games now, we hope that Joey Gallo can figure it out.
The Yankee bullpen has been borderline untouchable, primarily to relief pitcher Michael King who showed his dominance Saturday with a three-inning, one hit, eight strikeouts showing, proving that he is the most valuable piece of the Yankee bullpen. As long as they can keep games close for the Yankees past their starting pitching, the Yankees could have another series victory within their reach.
Series prediction: 3-0 Yankees
