New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays: Series Preview

The Yankees saw their weekend come to an annoying end on Sunday, as Luis Severino’s first-inning blowout doomed them to a defeat and a series loss to the Orioles. Well, they don’t have long to lick their wounds, as they’re back in action tonight for another crucial series against a division rival.

Tonight, the Yankees will return home and take on the Rays in a three-game set at Yankee Stadium. The Rays may have lost their AL East to Baltimore, but they’re still in a very comfortable position in the playoff standings, and are coming off a series win over the Astros.

Before the action gets underway tonight, let’s take a look at the projected pitching matchups for the next couple days.

Monday: Domingo Germán Jhony Brito* vs. Tyler Glasnow (7:05 pm ET)

Germán will get the start in the series opener. While he ended up making it through six innings, the right-hander had one of his worst starts of the season last time out. The pre-fire sale Mets got him for six runs on seven hits, including three home runs. Since Germán’s perfect game, he has a 5.64 ERA and a slightly more palatable 4.40 FIP.

*Update: Germán was a late scratch due to an injury. Jhony Brito was recalled from Triple-A Scranton to take the spot start for Monday night. Check out PSA’s story for more.

The Yankees have yet to take on Glasnow following his return from Tommy John surgery earlier this year. Prior to going under the knife, he had been quite good against the Yankees, posting a 3.47 ERA in 36.1 career innings. As for this year, he’s coming in off a good run, putting up a 2.23 ERA in his last six starts, with opposing hitters OPSing just .554.

Tuesday: Carlos Rodón vs. Zach Eflin (7:05 pm ET)

Tuesday lines up to be Rodón’s turn in the rotation. He’s coming off by far his best start as a Yankee so far as he held the Mets in check last Wednesday. In 5.2 innings, he allowed one run on four hits and three walks as the Yankees won to split that series. This potential game against the Rays is set to be his biggest both in terms of opposition and importance in the context of the season.

Eflin has been very solid since moving to the Rays in free agency this past offseason. That being said, the Yankees did get to him a bit in their only meeting this year. Back on May 14th, the Yankees got him for four runs in six innings, with both Anthony Rizzo and the since-demoted Oswaldo Cabrera taking him deep. Eflin has also been hit for 10 runs in 14 innings across his last three starts, five of which came via a less than stellar Royals’ team.

Wednesday: Gerrit Cole vs. Shane McClanahan (7:05 pm ET)

Cole will go in the series finale looking to continue his terrific 2023 campaign. The Yankees’ offense owes their ace big time after last Friday. He put in arguably his best start of the season, shutting out the Orioles for seven innings, only for the Yankees to not score themselves and eventually lose in the bottom of the ninth, 1-0. The Rays did get to him a bit in Cole’s two meetings against them, but both came in May, which has been his only real down patch of this season.

In this only meeting with McClanahan this year, the Yankees actually dinged him with one of his worst starts of this season. They chased him after four runs in just four innings on May 13th as the Yankees rallied after trailing 6-0. While that’s been the exception rather than the norm for McClanahan, his ERA over his last five starts is over six.