New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays: Gerrit Cole vs. Alek Manoah

Whatever else you have to say about the Yankees’ rotation so far this year, Gerrit Cole has been The Man. The righthander is top five in the game in ERA, FIP, and innings pitched, leading the world in fWAR. Most notably, in four starts this season, he’s yet to surrender a home run. That certainly won’t last all season, but against a Jays team that boasts a significant amount of power, one more start without a long ball would be a huge deal.

On the other side of things, Alek Manoah has been one of the worst pitchers in the game in 2023, with a 6.98 ERA and 7.01 FIP, completely losing any feel for the strike zone. He’s walking more than 15 percent of batters he faces. When he does find the zone, balls are hit hard upwards of 40 percent of the time.

Despite his poor start to the year, Manoah was an All-Star in 2022 and has been dynamite in his career against the Yankees, with a 2.31 ERA in six starts. He’s the kind of guy to draw on the energy of a big spot, and it’s critical for the Yankees jump all over him early to stop him from getting into the kinds of grooves we’ve seen from him.

Anthony Volpe is back in the leadoff spot and Oswald Peraza is in at the No. 9 hole and third base for his second career start there. DJ LeMahieu gets the day off though, which leaves the back half of the lineup a little thin for my tastes.

How to watch

First Pitch: 1:05pm EDT

Location: Yankee Stadium — The Bronx, NY

TV broadcast: YES, SNET

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280, FAN 590

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