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Games 48 & 49 Preview: Manoah/Ray vs Germán/Montgomery

Blue Jays (24-23) vs Yankees (28-20)

Toronto Blue Jays v New York Yankees Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

After the rainout yesterday, the Blue Jays and Yankees will play 2 games today! The first game is set to get underway at 4:05 ET, and the second to follow 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first, and no earlier than 7:05 (as if a game will be quick to worry about that caveat).

Blue Jays’ Starter

I looked at the Manoah vs Germán matchup yesterday, so I won’t go into that here. Matt broke down Manoah’s Minor League starts before yesterdays’ game if you want in depth analysis of his short AAA stint.

As for game 2 of the doubleheader, the Jays will go with Robbie Ray. Ray will be making his 9th start of the season, and brings a 2-1 record with a 3.41 ERA into tonight’s start. He has had his ups and downs a bit this year, but it has mostly been a great season for him. Over his 47.1 innings he has struck out 55 against an incredible (especially for him) 10 walks. The home runs have hurt him, having allowed the 3rd most in all of baseball at 12.

Ray faced the Yankees back in his first start of the season on April 12, and it wasn’t his best showing, but it was still a very solid game. He made it through 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits, striking out 3 and walking 3. He allowed a 2-run home run to Kyle Higashioka in the 5th inning.

Yankees’ Starter

I broke down the POS Domingo Germán yesterday. He will get game 1. Game 2 will be pitched by Jordan Montgomery. Montgomery will be making his 10th start of the year for the Yankees. Through his first 48.2 innings, Montgomery is 2-1 with a 4.07 ERA, although FIP (3.40) and xERA (3.51) are much happier with his work. He has 52 strikeouts against just 11 walks, and has allowed only 6 home runs.

The lefty has a 5 pitch mix that he’ll cycle through fairly consistently. On the fastball side, he has a 4-seamer that sits about 93 mph, a sinker that just a tiny bit below that, and a slower cutter that is averaging 88 mph. Combined, he’ll throw one of those 3 about half the time, with the sinker getting the most use. He also features a curveball, which he’ll get his strikeouts with, and a changeup, which gives him success against righties.

Blue Jays’ Lineup

Expect all 12 of the position players on the active roster to be used as a starter at some point today. The lefties, Joe Panik and Rowdy Tellez, will likely get in at least for the start against Germán. I wouldn’t be surprised to see both Santiago Espinal and Jonathan Davis in against Montgomery in the night cap.

Reese McGuire will catch one of these game, and Danny Jansen the other. Presumably Reese spent a fair bit of time last year working with Manoah at the alternate training site, so there is probably familiarity. But Jansen has only caught Ray twice this year, albeit his last 2 outings. I would guess we see Reese in the first, and Jano in the second.

Yankees’ Lineup

DJ LeMahieu was reinstated from the Paternity List for yesterday’s unplayed game, so he’s back and in the lineup.

Giancarlo Stanton was not activated, and now the expectation is that he will be on Friday, meaning his out likely out for today’s games.

Luke Voit is on his way to the Injured List with an oblique strain. There will be a roster addition to cover for Voit, and I believe they also get a 27th man for the double header.

Yesterday's Heroes

Taylor Ward went 3-4 with a home run and a double, driving in 5 runs to pick up the Monster Bat award. He was instrumental in his Angels eking out the 9-8 win over the Rangers.

Tyler Glasnow, free of the Blue Jays reading his mind or some such crap, threw a gem for the Pitcher of the Day award yesterday. He made it through 8 shutout innings, allowing 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 11. And since it was a 1-0 game pretty much the whole time Glasnow was on the mound, he gets the WPA King trophy as well with a .562 mark for the game. He didn’t get the win though, as the Royals tied it in the 9th, but the Rays did manage to pull out the 2-1 win in extras.

Find the Link

Find the link between DJ LeMahieu and Alex Rodriguez.

Stats retrieved from Fangraphs and Baseball Savant