New York Yankees @ Seattle Mariners: Domingo Germán vs. Bryce Miller

Happy Memorial Day, everyone. The Yankees are playing better baseball of late, winning the final two games against the Padres to seal a series victory before heading out on the road. They begin their six-game West Coast trip with three games against a hot Mariners squad that has won six of their last seven — albeit against the A’s and Pirates. East Coasters better brew that extra cup of coffee, because we’ve got some late-night baseball on our hands.

Domingo Germán returns to the mound following his ejection from his May 16th start against the Blue Jays and subsequent 10-game suspension under MLB’s foreign substance policy. He had pitched three perfect innings before the umpires conducted a foreign substance check that resulted in his ejection, with the crew professing that his hands were the stickiest they had felt all season while also making note of discoloration on his pants. Germán maintains that he only applied rosin to his hands and will reduce the amount he applies for this game. In nine starts, Germán is 2-3 with a 3.75 ERA (114 ERA+), 4.20 FIP, and 49 strikeouts in 48 innings.

Bryce Miller has established himself as one of the must-watch rookie starting pitchers in MLB, giving the Mariners perhaps the most intriguing starting rotation in the sport. He’s allowed just four runs and walked just three batters across his first five MLB starts and has yet to give up a home run in the bigs. He throws his mid-90s four-seamer over 70 percent of the time and for good reason — it has the fifth-highest spin rate and fourth-most rise relative to average of any qualified four-seamer in baseball. Estevão has the full analysis here so be sure to check it out. Across those five starts, Miller is 3-1 with a 1.15 ERA (355 ERA+), 1.88 FIP, and 28 strikeouts in 31.1. innings.

The Yankees make a handful of changes to the lineup that dropped a seven-spot in the third inning of the rubber match against the Padres. Willie Calhoun has five hits in his last 11 ABs and moves up to the three-hole. Anthony Rizzo gets the day off after the scary collision with Fernando Tatis Jr. at first, meaning DJ LeMahieu slides over to play first and Oswaldo Cabrera comes in to play third. Anthony Volpe also gets a rare rest, sliding Isiah Kiner-Falefa into the infield to play short and giving Jake Bauers a start in left.

The Mariners offense is led by the pair of former top prospect outfielders Jarred Kelenic and last year’s AL Rookie of the Year Julio Rodríguez, perhaps finally fulfilling the vision set forth two years ago. The former got off to a scorching start, cooling off in recent games though still with the team lead in home runs with ten. The latter meanwhile got off to a bit of a sluggish start but has found his feet over the last two weeks. Rookie José Caballero has come out of nowhere to grab the starting second base job from Kolten Wong and is second on the team with a 125 wRC+.

How to watch

Location: T-Mobile Park — Seattle, WA

First pitch: 9:40 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES – NYY / Root Sports Northwest - SEA

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9, WADO 1280

Online stream: MLB.tv

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