Series Preview: Series 17 vs. Tigers
Photo Via: Adam Hunger — Associated PressUpdate: This article was updated to reflect the Yankees naming of RHP Michael King as the Game 3 starting pitcher.
A.J. Hinch’s Tigers will host the Yankees for a weekend series in Detroit. The Yanks are coming off of their first series loss of the month, but were able to win the last game versus Toronto to avoid a sweep. The Tigers are 5-5 in their last 10 games, but also 1-5 in their last 6 games. The Yankees will get a Gerrit Cole start, which always helps their chances of winning a 3-game set.
Yankees Record: 29-21
Tigers Record: 19-31
Season Series: 3-0 (Yankees leading)
Lifetime Record: 1,058-931 (Yankees leading)
Game 1
Friday, May 25 — 7:10 pm — YES Network
Probable Pitchers: Gerrit Cole - RHP (NYY) vs. Casey Mize - RHP (DET)
Game Notes: Gerrit Cole has been unbelievable this season. Every time he takes the mound, it is an absolute treat for Yankees fans. Last time he faced the Tigers was the final Friday night in April, and he made them look silly (6 scoreless innings, 12 strikeouts). Cole is 6-2 on the season with a 1.81 ERA. In his last 5 starts against Detroit, he is 5-0 with a 1.71 ERA in 31.2 innings.
Right-hander Casey Mize is facing the Yankees for the first time in his young career. Mize is 3-3 with a 3.42 ERA in 2021, which is promising for the likely future ace. In May, Mize is 2-0 with a 1.73 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 26 innings. He is a true 5-pitch pitcher. He throws a 4-seam fastball, slider, sinker, splitter, and curveball. He throws all 5 pitches to both lefties and righties, but tends to use the slider a lot more against righties and then uses the fastball and splitter combo for lefties.
Game 2
Saturday, May 29 — 4:10 pm — WPIX 11, MLB Network
Probable Pitchers: Deivi García - RHP (NYY) vs. Spencer Turnbull - RHP (DET)
Game Notes: The Yankees are bringing Deivi García up for the Saturday start! He has one start on the season — a loss to the Orioles. García threw his slider 19 times against righties in that start, but 0 times against lefties. Instead, he used the curveball against lefty hitters, along with the fastball and changeup.
Spencer Turnbull is having a very respectable season for the Tigers (3-2, 3.12 ERA, 34 strikeouts). He mixes a fastball-slider-sinker-curveball combination, which has been getting the job done. His fastball and sinker are in the mid-90’s, with the slider and changeup in the mid-80’s. He is 0-2 with a 7.21 ERA in two career starts against the Yanks, including a 5-inning, 4-run effort on the first day of this month.
Game 3
Sunday, May 30 — 1:10 pm — WPIX 11, MLB Network
Probable Pitchers: Michael King - RHP (NYY) vs. Tarik Skubal - LHP (DET)
Game Notes:
(Update: The Yankees named RHP Michael King as the starter for Game 3.) The Yankees have not officially named a starter for Sunday quite yet, but as of now the belief is that Jameson Taillon will take the mound. Taillon threw 5 scoreless against the White Sox in his last start, which was not extremely flashy, but efficient. Taillon decided to throw tons of fastballs with 2 strikes instead of relying on the curveball for putaways.
Tarik Skubal (1-7, 5.23 ERA, 49 strikeouts) is not having the season he would have hoped for, but he has shown good signs of late. Against Seattle and Cleveland in his past two starts, he achieved the same pitching line of 5 innings, 2 runs, 9 strikeouts in each game. He has faced the Yankees once in his career (April 30 of this season), and the Yankees touched him up for 4 runs in 3 innings of work, including 3 home runs.
Skubal is among the bottom 10 percent of the league in barrel percentage, hard-hit percentage, chase rate, expected ERA, and average exit velocity. Those are not good signs for him over the course of the last two months, but if he can be more like the last two starts, he can hold his own.
Sluggers to Watch
D.J. LeMahieu welcomed a baby into his family last week, so watch out for the dad strength. He turned in a 2-hit effort last night and barreled some baseballs in the process. Comerica Park has a huge outfield, so maybe LeMahieu will get luckier than he was in Texas when he hits his line drives.
Akil Baddoo has changed his approach this month. The rookie turned some heads when he got off to a hot April, but cooled down for the second half of the month. In May, he has decided to become more of a contact hitter. He is yet to hit a home run in the month, but if he keeps hitting over .300, it will not matter. He is only hitting .238 on the season, but he is .357 with 3 stolen bases. He has a really good eye at the plate (10 walks since May 7) and can run the bases extremely well (92nd percentile in sprint speed).
Injury Report
DH Giancarlo Stanton (strained left quad) has been activated from the injured list and will place in this weekend’s series. Expect to see a day off for him during this series.
1B Luke Voit (10-day IL) has a grade 2 oblique strain and will likely miss upwards of 6 weeks. The timeline for Voit is completely speculative at this time.
RHP Corey Kluber (10-day IL) has a strained shoulder and will be shut down for at least 4 weeks. He will then require a throwing program of at least 4 weeks, so the total minimum stay on the injured list is 2 months.
CF Aaron Hicks (10-day IL) had a season-ending wrist surgery this week.
OF Ryan LaMarre (pulled hamstring), RHP Clarke Schmidt (elbow strain), RHP Darren O’Day (strained rotator cuff), and RHP Luis Severino (Tommy John surgery) are all out for the series. Schmidt has thrown from 120 feet, but has not progressed to mound work. Severino threw to live hitters, but has not started a rehab assignment.
LHP Zack Britton (arthroscopic elbow surgery) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment at Double-A Somerset on Saturday. His original rehab plan was put on pause prior to his first live-game action due to some elbow soreness. However, it has since been determined that the aggravation was due to scar tissue buildup and should not be a major concern.
The Tigers have the following players on the injured list who will not play this series:
C Grayson Greiner (10-day IL - strained hamstring)
C Wilson Ramos (10-day IL - strained back)
RHP Julio Teheran (60-day IL - strained shoulder)
RHP Erasmo Ramirez (10-day IL - strained pectoral muscle)