New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers: Deivi García vs. Spencer Turnbull

The Yankees will take the field today in Detroit looking to rebound from another middling offensive performance last night in what was a 3-2 extra-inning loss to the Tigers. After having won six games in a row, the Yankees have now dropped three of their last four, scoring only nine runs over that stretch. They head into today’s action in third place, trailing both the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays by two games in the loss column in the American League East.

New York looks to Deivi García, who’ll be making his first start since his recent call-up, to right the ship. García will be making his first big league appearance since April 26^th, when he was on the wrong end of the decision in a loss to Baltimore in which he allowed six baserunners and two earned runs over four innings. As Andres Chavez noted recently in an article for PSA, García had ups and downs while pitching in Scranton, but with the recent sidelining of Corey Kluber, the Yankees are willing to roll the dice with Deivi today.

García will be facing a Detroit team, that despite winning three of its last four, has only scored seven runs over that stretch. The Tigers’ offense, or lack thereof, has played a big part in their 20-31 start that has them in last place in the AL Central, 10 games out of first place on Memorial Day weekend. The Tigers’ offense ranks dead last in the AL in runs per game, SLG, and OPS+, so there should be no reason for García to nibble off the edges today.

Taking the hill for Detroit will be Spencer Turnbull, who the Yankees beat back on May 1^st. Turnbull got knocked around in his subsequent start against Boston on May 6^th as well but has been a different pitcher since then. Two quality starts with a no-hitter sandwiched in between have turned him into a plus starter in the 2021 AL, as he currently ranks fifth in the league in FIP and is in the top 20 in both ERA and ERA+.

Turnbull will be facing a Yankee lineup that essentially has been in a funk since April 1^st. The Yankees currently rank an almost unfathomable 13^th in the 15 team AL in runs per game and as I’ve expanded upon here on PSA previously, have hit with very little power, ranking 11^th in SLG, and 14^th in extra base hit percentage in the AL. Their league-leading BB% has led to a respectable OBP, which has been their only saving grace, but one wonders how much longer that will be the case. At some point opponents are going to stop issuing free passes to a team that isn’t much of a power threat. Giancarlo Stanton gets the day off today, while Mike Ford and Gary Sánchez are back in the starting lineup looking to provide sparks.

How to watch:

Location: Comerica Park, Detroit MI

First pitch: 4:10 pm

TV broadcast: WPIX, BSDET, MLB Network (out of market)

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280, 97.1 The Ticket

Online stream: MLB.tv

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