Series Preview: Yankees @ Cardinals

Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

The Yankees and the Cardinals, two historic franchises going at it for three games. This will  include a favorite for many, the Memorial Day afternoon game. In this year’s case, its a late afternoon game but still nothing better than some baseball to watch as we take in our Memorial Day.

                                          Probable Pitching Match-ups

     Yankees                                               @                                             Cardinals

Chase Whitley             Monday, May 26th:  4:15 pm EST             Michael Wacha

 David Phelps              Tuesday, May 27th: 8:15 pm EST                 Lance Lynn

 Hiroki Kuroda          Wednesday, May 28th: 8:15 pm EST             Shelby Miller

Who’s Hot?: Matt Carpenter has been really hitting the cover of the ball which is great for the Cardinals and my fantasy team. Carpenter is hitting .400 in his past six games. Another hot bat has been Matt Adams who is hitting over .400 with a homer and four RBIs in the same stretch.

The hottest hitter for the Yanks of late is Ichiro Suzuki who has seen much more playing time with the absence of Carlos Beltran. Ichiro is hitting .333 over the last week, one of the very few bats on the club to produce.

Who’s Not?: Jhonny Peralta has done his share of struggling as well. Last week, Peralta hit just .250 with a homer and four RBIs. The speedy Peter Bourjos has not been any better hitting just .214 in his last 14 at-bats. Pretty much everyone else on the Cardinals have been swinging the bat pretty well.                                                  

                                                       *What To Watch For*

Whitley will pitch against the Cards for the first time and he has been brilliant in his first two outings. Although the length wasn’t there because he was on a pitch count, Whitley has given up just one run in nine innings. The second start will be complimentary of  David Phelps. Another pitcher who has looked very good lately especially as a starter posting a 2.87 ERA in his four starts.

The struggling Kuroda will take the ball on Wednesday. The Cardinals have had their fair share of the 39-year old when he pitched for the Dodgers. Matt Holliday especially loved facing him because Holliday owned Kuroda. The outfielder is 11 for 26 (.423) with a home run and seven RBIs. The rest of the team isn’t too hot against the righty. Six other Cardinals including Yadier Molina have gone a combined 6 for 65 (.092) with just no home runs and only two RBIs.