Yankees hit the road for first time with rising Orioles squad next on the schedule
Punching bags no more.
The Yankees roll into Camden Yards to take on the Baltimore Orioles for the first time this season in a three-game set on Friday after Thursday’s game was postponed due to the threat of bad weather. However, these are not the O’s of the past where anything less than a sweep was a borderline disappointment.
Coming off of an 83-win season, Brandon Hyde’s squad figures to be in the thick of the wild card race with a foundation of young talent surrounded by some strong veterans. The O’s stunned the baseball world coming off of three-straight 100-plus loss seasons (tossing out the pandemic-shortened ‘20 campaign) only to find themselves in the hunt for the postseason until the final month of the season.
Catcher Adley Rutschman leads the charge for the Birds. The 25-year-old finished second in last season’s Rookie of the Year voting and got out of the gates to a scorching start. The backstop went 5-for-5 on Opening Day against the Red Sox — but has cooled a bit going 3-for-22 in the next five games.
Third basemen Gunnar Henderson — 2-for-16 this season — is the odds-on favorite to win the AL Rookie of the Year. And to top off their exciting young players, MLB Pipeline’s No. 7 overall prospect Grayson Rodriguez made his MLB debut Wednesday against the Rangers tossing five innings allowing two runs while striking out five.
All-Star Cedric Mullins and outfielder Anthony Santander — 33 homers in 22 — round out a lineup that has scored 34 runs in the early going which is good for fourth in runs per game in the American League thus far.
The Orioles are 3-3 on the season after dropping their opening series against the Red Sox and taking two out of three from the Rangers earlier this week. Against Texas they displayed their potential high-powered offense by scoring seven runs in Tuesday’s win. In the season-opening road trip they displayed their potential to be a high-powered offense by scoring seven or more runs in three of the six games.
In years prior, the Orioles have been a welcome sight on the upcoming schedule as the Bombers own a record of 59-27 against them since 2018 — including 12-7 in 2022 — but despite their recent dominance, there is good reason to circle the O’s on the calendar as a threat to steal some games for the first time in years.
PITCHING BREAKDOWN
Friday: Clarke Schmidt vs. Dean Kremer
Breakdown: Schmidt will get his second start of the season. His first didn’t go according to plan. The righty allowed three runs in 3.1 innings of work in Saturday’s loss to the Giants. The 27-year-old will need to get on track quickly to prove he belongs in the Yankees rotation.
Kremer has a career 5.34 ERA against the Bombers in six starts and will take the ball for the O’s in their home opener.
Saturday: Nestor Cortes vs. Cole Irvin
Breakdown: Cortes followed up his stellar 2022 with a strong start to the season. The southpaw tossed five innings allowing just one run in their 8-1 win against the Phillies on Monday.
Irvin has made just one career start against the Bombers on June 6 of last season when he tossed seven innings allowing five runs.
Sunday: Domingo German vs. TBD
Breakdown: German currently has the leg-up to remain in the Yankees rotation over Schmidt once Carlos Rodon and Luis Severino return. However, the right-hander allowed four runs over 4.2 innings in their loss to the Phillies Tuesday.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Gleyber Torres is off to a scorching hot start going 8-for-19 (.421) with two homers, six RBI and five stolen bases and could get even better.
The 26-year-old has dominated the Orioles during his career owning a .317/.391/.614 slashline with 18 homers in 69 career games.
Torres was the subject of trade conversation dating back to last season’s trade deadline, however, building off of his strong start could turn that chatter into contract extension negotiations.
