This week’s streak of miserable weather in the Bronx will continue this afternoon as rain showers are expected off and on well past the 4:05 scheduled start time of today’s contest against the Astros. There is some hope, however, as the drizzle is supposed to let up by around 6:00. It’s expected that the teams will make every effort to get this game in tonight, as this is Houston’s only trip to New York in 2016. If worse comes to worse, they could make it up when the Yankees visit the Astros in July.
This afternoon’s pitching matchup is Nathan Eovaldi against Mike Fiers. This will be Eovaldi’s first regular season start since missing the last month of 2015 with an elbow injury. Before he was shut down, Evo really seemed to have turned a corner, posting a 2.86 FIP in his last 14 starts, largely due to an increased reliance on a nasty split-fingered fastball. His secondary pitches have always been underdeveloped compared to his impressive heater, but that is beginning to change. Yesterday, Eovaldi told Josh Thomson of the LoHud Yankees Blog, “I was just developing the splitter last year. Coming into the season now, I have a lot more confidence in that and in my slider as well. I’ll be able to mix up all my pitches tomorrow and get it going.” Eovaldi made two starts against the Astros last season and fared pretty well, allowing a combined two earned runs in 14 innings while striking out 13 batters.
Fiers came over to Houston from Milwaukee in last summer’s Carlos Gomez trade. He has quietly emerged as a reliable back of the rotation option, compiling two or more WARP in three of the past four seasons. This will be his first career start against the Bombers.
Here’s the lineup that Fiers will be facing:
- Jacoby Ellsbury- CF
- Brett Gardner- LF
- Alex Rodriguez- DH
- Mark Teixeira- 1B
- Brian McCann- C
- Carlos Beltran- RF
- Chase Headley- 3B
- Starlin Castro- 2B
- Didi Gregorius- SS
Notes:
– The Yankees have not won a series against Houston since September of 2013. They were 3-4 against them last season, but were outscored 36-17.
– Eduardo A. Encina reported that the Yankees were interested in former Orioles starting pitcher Miguel Gonzalez before he signed a minor league deal with the White Sox on Sunday. The loss of Bryan Mitchell was a major blow to the Yankees’ pitching depth, and the Grapefruit League performances of CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova were not particularly inspiring. A last minute move to add some rotation insurance would make a lot of sense.
– There are a few familiar faces remaining on the free agent market who could be fits for the Yankees. Tim Lincecum, Justin Masterson, Josh Johnson, and Chad Billingsley all have impressive resumes but are a few seasons removed from their last healthy and effective seasons. It might be interesting to stash one or more of them in Scranton and see what happens. If the team insists on offering only minor league deals, that’s probably the best they can do.
Lead photo: Gregory J. Fisher / USA TODAY Sports