New York Yankees at Kansas City Royals: Series Preview

After a homestand that saw six wins, two sweeps, and the offense come alive, the Yankees are now heading back on the road. Riding a six-game winning streak, they’re heading to Kansas City for a three-game set against the Royals this weekend.

The Royals will come into this series with a 7-10 record, but have gone just 2-5 in recent games. On offense, they’ll feature the likes of highly-rated rookie Bobby Witt Jr., who is still looking to truly get going in his first MLB season.

With the Yankees coming in on a roll, they’ll be looking to rack up another couple wins ahead of their first trip north of the border. Before things get going tonight, here’s a look at the pitching matchups we’ll see this weekend.

Friday: Nestor Cortes vs. Kris Bubic (8:10 PM ET)

The Cortes Cy Young train continues through KC, as Nestor gets the start in the opener. Cortes had probably his worst start of the season last time out against Cleveland, but even that consisted of two runs allowed in 6.1 innings. The only thing he really hasn’t done so far is pick up a pitching win, but that’s mainly due to the Yankees offense’s slow start more than anything else.

Bubic is in his third MLB season and will be making his first ever start against the Yankees on Friday night. He threw 2.1 scoreless innings against them in a game at Yankee Stadium last year, but that came out of the bullpen. Bubic has not gotten off to a great start in 2022, with an ERA over 14 and his longest outing of the season being just 4.1 innings. In his most recent appearances, he was knocked out after two innings and five runs.

Saturday: Gerrit Cole vs. Carlos Hernández (7:10 PM ET)

After a couple less-than-stellar games to start his season, Gerrit Cole looked a lot like Gerrit Cole last Sunday against the Guardians. He went 6.2 scoreless innings and struck out nine Cleveland hitters in by far his best start of the young season.

Like Bubic, Hernández has not had the best run of things in what is his third season in the bigs. His ERA sits at over six, having been improved by a three-run, 5.1 inning outing against the Mariners. However in the most 2021 Yankees thing possible, Hernández was solid against them in a start last year, allowing one run on five hits in 6.2 innings. The Yankees eventually won that very weird game, but they couldn’t do much with Hernández that day.

Sunday: Luis Severino vs. Daniel Lynch (2:10 PM ET)

Severino continued his return to the rotation in impressive fashion against the Orioles, starting the game with five no-hit innings. While a couple hits and runs in the sixth made his overall numbers on the day look a little less shiny, it was still a good sign from a guy who’ has missed so much time over recent seasons.

Early into his second season in the bigs, Lynch has been pretty solid. His first start of the season wasn’t great, but he’s since responded with back-to-back scoreless outings. He’s allowed just 6 hits and 3 walks in 11 innings in his last two games, holding down the Twins and White Sox.