Ryan Yarbrough Hopes for a Better Outing In Game 1 Against Boston

Ryan Yarbrough hopes to do better in the first game against the Red Sox in Boston. He was roughed up in his worst outing of his season in his first game against Boston and Garrett Crochet. This is the same pitching matchup from June 7. The Yankees roughed Crochet up for five runs, a season-high, but Yarbrough pitched terribly. Easily his worst of the season. Maybe the stage was too big for him. Do you think Yarbrough will pitch better?

A Preview Of the Pitching Matchup: Yarbrough-Crochet, Again

The Red Sox starting pitcher in game 1 in Boston is Crochet. He is 6-4 with a 2.35 earned run average this season. In his last five outings, he has pitched well, with the possible exception of the last game against the Yankees. In his last five outings, he has pitched 6, 7, 6.2, 5.1, and 7 innings. He gave up five earned runs in his last outing, but before that, he allowed 1, 2, 1, and 2 runs. His strikeout-to-walk ratio during that time is 42-6.

Yarbrough, who is 3-1 with a 4.17 earned run average. After his poor last outing his earned run average ballooned. So, this challenge is a good one for the crafty left-hander, who must bounce back. Yarbrough is making his seventh start. He is holding opponents to just a .229 batting average despite giving up eight earned runs and nine hits in just four innings pitched his last time out.

Other Players To Watch 

For the Boston Red Sox, keep an eye on Rafael Devers, who leads Boston in home runs with 14 and runs batted in with 57. Jarren Duran has 81 hits and an on-base percentage of .325 to go with a slugging percentage of .428 this season. Ceddanne Rafaela has a .254 batting average, a .306 slugging percentage, and a .402 on-base percentage this year. Also, keep an eye on the three Boston youngsters, Kristian Campbell, Marccelo Mayer, and Roman Anthony.

For the Yankees, keep an eye on Yarbrough as he attempts to bounce back. Look also for world offensive leader Aaron Judge has a team-high batting average of .394, and leads the Yankees in home runs (25) and runs batted in (59). Cody Bellinger is getting hot and is a nice complement to Judge. He is batting .260 now with 11 doubles, 3 triples, 9 home runs, and 26 walks. Paul Goldschmidt has cooled off after a hot start, but he is still batting .312 with 13  doubles, a triple, 7 home runs, and 20 walks. He has surprising speed and has five stolen bases.

Additional Insights

This season, the New York Yankees have been the underdog seven times and won two of those games. New York leads Major League Baseball in home runs with 108. Yarborough will need some more if he is to be successful. The Yankees are fueled by 238 extra-base hits, and the Yankees lead major league baseball with a .468 slugging percentage. The Yankees have the tenth-best earned run average (3.73) in the majors this season. That number was not helped by Yarbrough’s terrible outing last time against the Red Sox. The Yankees have the sixth-lowest WHIP as a pitching staff. That number was not helped by Yarbrough either.

The Boston Red Sox average 1.3 home runs per game to rank seventh in Major League Baseball with 88 home runs. The Red Sox rank sixth in Major League Baseball in slugging at .426. In pitching, Boston has the 20th-best ERA. Pitchers for the Red Sox combine for the 21st-ranked WHIP.

Conclusion

This will be an opportunity for the Yankees to capitalize on their sweep of the Royals. It will also be an opportunity for the Yankees to put some distance between themselves and the Red Sox, righting the wrongs of last weekend. Yarbrough needs to pitch much better than he did in his last start against the Red Sox.