New York Yankees vs. Colorado Rockies: Series Preview

The Yankees return from a much-needed All-Star break after stumbling into the Midsummer Classic. This whole season could be described as somewhat of a stumble, but the Yankees have a soft landing spot with three games against the last-place Rockies.

Not much has gone right for the Rockies this season as they currently sit 18 games back in the NL West. However, they did have the feel-good story of the week when catcher Elias Díaz became the first Rockies player in franchise history to win All-Star game MVP.

Will the Yankees be able to take advantage of a struggling ballclub and get back on the right track? Lets take a look at the pitching matchups for this weekend.

Friday: Carlos Rodón vs. Austin Gomber (8:40 pm ET)

Carlos Rodón is coming off his first start of the season following a lengthy stint on the injured list. He had a solid outing against the Cubs in which he gave up two runs over 5.1 innings pitched. The Yankees ended up losing that game 3-0 as the offense continued to sputter. It was certainly a start to build on for the Yankees’ prized offseason pitching addition, as he continues to get reps at the big league level.

Austin Gomber currently boasts a 6.40 ERA with opponents batting .291 against him on the season. For what it’s worth, Gomber is coming off two of his best starts of the season. He gave up three runs over seven innings against Detroit and followed that up with six innings of two-run ball against the Giants.

Saturday: Clarke Schmidt vs. Connor Seabold (8:10 pm ET)

Seeing Luis Severino struggle so mightily has made five-inning starts from Clarke Schmidt seem invaluable. Schmidt is coming off an outing where one bad inning plagued him against the Orioles. Cruising through four, two home runs in the fifth cut his start short, but he did strikeout seven over that span. While I’m sure the Yankees would love to see him work into the sixth inning more frequently, his consistency over his last nine starts has helped the Yankees deal with injuries and struggling starters over that time.

Any way you slice it, Connor Seabold has been overmatched as a starter this season. His 6.65 ERA is..not good. Over his last four starts in which he has pitched only 16.2 innings, he has given up 24 runs including nine homers. His last quality start came on June 12th against Boston. If the Yankees don’t hit Seabold then I’m not sure what will get this offense going.

Sunday: Gerrit Cole vs. Chase Anderson (3:10 pm ET)

Gerrit Cole has been everything you want in an ace. This year’s All-Star starter has been consistent, frequently dominant, and available (which seems to be a problem these days with the Yankees). Cole finished the first half giving up three runs over 7.1 innings against the Cubs. A typical outing that the Yankees have come to expect from their right-hander. The Yankees are 14-5 in games that Cole starts, as he continues to put together another Cy Young-caliber season.

The Rockies claimed Anderson off waivers from the Rays back in May and he has struggled to string together quality starts. A theme with the Rockies seems to be ballooning ERAs throughout their rotation. Anderson’s 6.89 ERA over ten starts this season is alarming. He is giving up 2.54 HR/9 and has surrendered 27 runs over his last four starts. This is as lopsided as it gets between two starting pitchers.

This series feels like the right time for the Yankee’s offense to come alive following an ugly first half of the season offensively. Yankees fans can only hope that this lineup can take advantage of a subpar rotation for the Rockies.