New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros: Series preview
27/03/2024 13:00
The Bombers open up the 2024 season in Houston for an all-too-familiar matchup.
Our long national nightmare is over, and the regular season is just about upon us. The Yankees wrapped up their spring schedule on Tuesday, and have headed down to Houston to kick off the 2024 season against the Astros. We won't be seeing Gerrit Cole on Opening Day like we hoped, but these are real games with real stakes, and there is much to be excited about.
Thursday: Nestor Cortes vs. Framber Valdez (4:10 pm ET)
Behind the injured Cole, Nestor Cortes gets the nod for the Yankees on Opening Day. The lefty had a limited and fairly rough 2023 campaign, with a 4.97 ERA and 4.49 FIP in just 63.1 innings. His spring hasn't been much better, as he's given up 12 earned runs over 14 innings in four starts. The veteran starter earned the start nonetheless, and he'll be faced with an always-daunting Astros lineup.
A fellow lefty will be on the bump for the Astros in Framber Valdez. He's a two-time All-Star and has been a top notch big league starter for most of four seasons now. He too has not had an ideal spring, giving up eight earned runs in 9.1 innings. On top of excellent results over recent seasons, he's also a workhorse, pitching the fifth most innings in baseball since 2022.
Friday: Carlos Rodón vs. TBD (8:10 pm ET)
One of the Yankees' biggest 2024 question marks will offer his first glimpse of an answer in game two of the regular season. Carlos Rodón had a pretty miserable debut in pinstripes, and particularly with Gerrit Cole for the time being, his turnaround will be vital to the Yankees' success. His spring has been fittingly inconclusive, tossing 19.1 innings with a 4.19 ERA, with three really good outings and two not-so great ones. His velocity and stuff has fluctuated all the same, and there's considerable reason to be both encouraged and worried. Hopefully Rodón's first official outing of the season is the start of his return to form as the man the Yanks gave a six-year deal to last offseason.
The Astros' starting pitcher has not officially been announced for Friday, but the depth chart would suggest Cristian Javier, so we'll go with that. The now-27-year-old had his breakout in 2022, pitching 148.2 innings with a stingy 2.54 ERA and 3.16 FIP. He seemed poised to take another step forward into ace-hood in 2023, but did the opposite. His ERA jumped by over two runs, and his K rate hit a wall in his increased workload of 162 innings. He'll try to right the ship coming out of a spring that saw him manage a still-worrisome 5.71 FIP in his five starts.
Saturday: Marcus Stroman vs. TBD (7:15 pm ET)
The first Yankee debut on the mound will likely belong to Marcus Stroman Saturday. It can sometimes get lost in the shuffle, but the righty has been a very good and mostly consistent Major League starter for a decade now. Given the Yankees' circumstances, his contract is already looking like a good investment for the rotation. Stroman had an excellent spring training, where he worked 20.2 innings with a 2.61 ERA, which included three different 4+ inning scoreless outings.
As it was in game two, Saturday is similarly uncertain for the Astros, but the depth charts next go to Hunter Brown. On top of his uncanny mechanical resemblance to Justin Verlander, Brown has some excellent stuff. His four seam and curveball combo is a very good one, though he did run into some trouble in his first full-time go-around as a big league starter, with an ERA above 5.00 in his 29 starts last season. He did, however, manage a sparkling spring, allowing just four runs in 17 innings, striking out a batter per inning.
