New York Yankees vs. Milwaukee Brewers: Series Preview

Much of the Yankees’ 2023 season so far has felt fairly dull and uninteresting, but you can’t say that about the last week or so. After the call-ups of Jasson Domínguez and others and the team’s general youth movement, the Yankees have both been more interesting to watch and better on the field. They come into this weekend having won two series over the Tigers and swept the Astros in between that. Now, they’re looking to see if they can keep the wins coming as another good team comes to town.

Starting tonight, the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers are in town for a three-game set. Milwaukee will be looking for some wins themselves as they come into this weekend in a tight battle with the Cubs, two games ahead.

Before things kick off tonight, let’s take a look at the expected pitching matchups for the next couple days.

Friday: Luis Severino vs. Colin Rea (7:05 pm ET)

After a stretch of pretty decent results, Severino had his worst start in a couple weeks last Saturday in Houston. It didn’t turn into a total disaster like some of his other outings this season, but he did get touched up for four runs and two home runs in four innings. Prior to that, Sevy had thrown 13.2 scoreless innings over his previous two starts.

Rea has been the worst regular member of the Brewers’ rotation as he comes into this meeting with a 5.07 ERA and a 5.13 FIP in his 21 games, 20 of which have been starts. Over July and August, he went through a stretch where he had a 6.32 ERA, leading to him being sent down for a couple weeks. The 33-year-old right-hander made his return to the big leagues last Saturday, where he gave up two runs in 4.1 innings against the Phillies.

Saturday: Michael King vs. Wade Miley (2:05 pm ET)

After the Old-Timers’ Day festivities, King will get the start for the present-day Yankees. In the series finale last weekend against the Astros, he put in a very solid outing, allowing one run in five innings. It’s still a very small sample size of three starts, but since his move to the rotation, he has a 0.77 ERA and a 1.72 FIP in 11.2 innings. King was up to 69 pitches his last time out, so look for a start of at least 75 and perhaps 80.

The 13-year veteran southpaw Miley has been very good for the Brewers this season after signing with them last offseason (he previously pitched for Milwaukee in 2018). That being said, he did give up four runs to the Phillies in his last start, which at 6.1 innings was his longest since April. Since mid-August, he has a near five ERA and a FIP worse than that.

Sunday: Gerrit Cole vs. Corbin Burnes (1:35 pm ET)

The big thing to watch in Cole starts for the rest of the year — unless there’s some miracle run that gets the Yankees into the playoff race — will be how he does in relation to the AL Cy Young race. He put in another good effort against the Tigers earlier this week, allowing just one run in six innings despite Detroit scattering eight hits. It was the 22nd time his season that Cole allowed two or fewer earned runs in a start.

As he goes after his first Cy Young, he’ll be facing a former winner of the NL versions of the award in Corbin Burnes. The 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner hasn’t been as dominant as he was that year but has still been very good for Milwaukee this season. That being said, he does have a 4.30 ERA and a 4.35 FIP since the beginning of August.