New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Rays: Clarke Schmidt vs. Taj Bradley

Haven’t you missed Tropicana Field? No? Well, unfortunately, that’s where you’re going to have to watch the Yankees tonight if you’re interested in checking the latest Juan Soto exploits. The Rays visited the Yankees during a series in mid-April in which the Yankees took two out of three, sandwiching narrow victories around an unfortunate 10-inning shutout on John Sterling Day. Now, New York must return the favor and visit the Trop.

It’s been a weird start to the season for Tampa Bay, as manager Kevin Cash has navigated a team with a rotation beset by injuries and a lineup that until recently had received very little from top hitters Randy Arozarena and Yandy Díaz. Thus, they began the season at 14-18 and occupied last place in the AL East as recently as May 1st. The Rays were even swept by the awful White Sox, who still only have 10 wins!

Tampa Bay has rebounded in May though, with a five-game winning streak that included a dusting of the Mets. Their run was snapped on Wednesday — again by those White Sox — so they enter play today back at square one with a 19-19 record. All the same, they always seem to give the Yankees a tough time at the Trop, so they’ll have to be on their guard. It would shock no one to see the Rays recover from the so-so start to get back to the playoffs in 2024.

Sam just wrote yesterday about tonight’s Yankees starter, Clarke Schmidt, and I’d encourage you to check his work out. The righty will probably only go about five or six innings, but he’ll get his share of K’s, as he’s jumped from a 21.5-percent K rate in 2023 to 27.3 percent in 36 innings of 3.50-ERA ball thus far in 2024.

Opposing Schmidt will be righty Taj Bradley, who is making his season debut for the Rays after a right pectoral strain held him up. He was one of MLB’s top prospects before the start of 2023, but his rookie year did not go according to plan. Bradley will get his share of punchies, as he fanned 129 batters in 104.2 innings, but he also got smoked with a 5.59 ERA, 4.79 FIP, and 1.385 WHIP, allowing 23 homers in the process. The onus is on him for a better sophomore campaign. He utilizes a fastball/cutter/curve/split-finger mix.

The Yankees’ lineup is only slightly tweaked after their 6-1 homestand, and the changes are only ones they periodically make anyway. Jose Trevino will catch Schmidt tonight, and Jon Berti will man third in place of Oswaldo Cabrera. Otherwise, Aaron Boone is just letting his best hitters eat. Also note that reliever Nick Burdi is back in the Yankees’ bullpen, activated off the IL with Ron Marinaccio optioned to Triple-A.

Go Yankees, go baseball.

How to watch:

Location: Tropicana Field — St. Petersburg, FL

First pitch: 6:50 p.m. ET

TV broadcast: YES, Bally Sports Sun

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280

Online stream: MLB.tv, YES App

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