New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers: James Paxton vs. Hyun-Jin Ryu

The Yankees didn’t get off to the start they wanted on this West Coast trip, getting swept by the Athletics. The road only gets harder starting tonight, as they face off against their one-time hometown rivals in the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers are far and away the best team in the National League, and they currently hold the best record in MLB. Whether it’s fair or not, this series will probably be considered the litmus test for the Yankees postseason chances going forward.

Big Maple, AKA James Paxton, gets the start for the Yankees. Paxton had pitched at least six innings in every start this August until his last turn in the rotation against the Indians. Paxton was shaky, but managed to come away with only four runs allowed in five innings and the Yankees got the win. Paxton’s season has been inconsistent like many of the Yankees pitchers, but he’s one of the few who has serious upside still to tap into. A strong start tonight would go a long way towards reaching that.

류현진, or Hyun-Jin Ryu, has enjoyed a dominant 2019 season so far. His 1.64 ERA leads the league, but his 2.99 FIP indicates he may be due for regression. Ryu doesn’t hand out free passes, allowing only 18 walks in 148.1 IP this year, which will be a problem for batters like Aaron Judge who rely on working the count often. He isn’t a big strikeout pitcher, with only 126 collected, but the contact he creates has been consistently weak. The Yankees will have their work cut out for them.

If you need a guide for any of the player’s nicknames over this player’s weekend event, you can read up on them here.

First pitch is scheduled for 10:07 p.m. EST. The game will be on YES locally, but out of market viewers can stream the game on Facebook Watch. You can also listen to the broadcast with WFAN 660/101.9 FM or WADO 1280.