YGY Series Preview Show Rewind: Pirates-Yankees (5/16-5/18)

May 6, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen (22) singles against the San Francisco Giants during the ninth inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

On this episode of the Yanks Go Yard Series Preview Show, I started off by giving a quick recap of the New York Yankees’ (21-19) split against the New York Mets in the Subway Series. While the team got some bad news via a DL stint for Carlos Beltran and rough starting pitching at Yankee Stadium in the first two games, the team managed to salvage the series at Citi Field behind a dominant start from Masahiro Tanaka and some great pitching from Dellin Betances in the bullpen. Plus, Mark Teixeira continues to swing a red hot bat as he added a home run in the series. The New York Yankees will now head back to the Bronx for a three game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates (17-23).

After a surprising season last year that led to the team’s first postseason appearance since 1992, the team has struggled in their new role as the “hunted” rather than the “hunter.” Pittsburgh is 22nd in MLB in runs scored, but their main problem is in the starting rotation. Charlie Morton has the lowest ERA out of all the starters (3.22). The bad start has caused Pittsburgh to fall to 8.5 games behind the first place Milwaukee Brewers. However, Andrew McCutchen (.306 batting average) and Pedro Alvarez (8 HR, 24 RBI) are two guys that are still solid players to watch in Clint Hurdle‘s lineup. On this episode, I was joined by Matt Shetler, the co-editor of City Of Champions Sports. His site is the Pittsburgh regional site on the Fansided network. You will find the topics that Matt and I discussed on the episode below, including whether or not the Buccos actually miss A.J. Burnett in the starting rotation this year.

• Pirates’ new role as the team everyone is chasing in 2014
• Impact of no Burnett in the starting rotation
• Addition of Ike Davis into this lineup – How has he adjusted in the Pirates’ lineup?
• Pitching Match-ups
• Edinson Volquez‘s issues with the crooked inning
• Gerrit Cole  facing the team he grew up rooting for
• Hiroki Kuroda in need for some consistency
• The struggles of Vidal Nuno and David Phelps
• Pirates’ Player To Watch (Neil Walker)
• Yankees’ Players To Watch (Brett Gardner and Mark Teixeira)
• State of the Pirates’ Bullpen Without Jason Grilli
• When will Gregory Polanco be called up to the majors?

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE PIRATES-YANKEES SERIES PREVIEW SHOW!!!