Yanks Go Yard Radio Show Rewind: Yankees-Blue Jays Preview (5/4-5/6)

By Ricky Keeler | May 4, 2015

On last night’s episode of the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show, brought to you by KNODA.com, we had our third series preview/postgame episode of the season with the New York Yankees playing on Sunday Night Baseball last night. This past weekend at Fenway Park featured Alex Rodriguez hitting home run number 660 in a pinch hitting role on Friday night and New York getting its first three-game sweep at Fenway Park since the 2006 season.

The first two games of the series had good pitching performances from CC Sabathia and Nathan Eovaldi, who both need to step their game up a little bit to make up for the loss of Masahiro Tanaka for the time being. Plus, how about the game Jacoby Ellsbury had last night? Ellsbury went 4-for-4 with a walk and a hit by pitch last night in Sunday’s 8-5 win.

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Now, the Yankees (16-9) will conclude their three game series by heading up to the Rogers Centre to play a three game series with the Toronto Blue Jays (12-14). What is unique about this Blue Jays squad that took two of three from New York in the first series of the season is they have scored the most runs in the league, but have the worst pitching ERA in the league.

Over the past few days, Toronto has sent down starting pitcher Daniel Norris, closer Miguel Castro, and outfielder Dalton Pompey to triple-A Buffalo. Their best player on offense has been second baseman Devon Travis (.318, 7 HR, 23 RBI’s), who leads this potent lineup in batting average, home runs, RBI’s, and on-base percentage.

During the first part of this episode, I spoke with Jeff Morten from Jays Journal about Toronto’s recent struggles and the surprising start that Devon Travis has had so far. Plus, how does manager John Gibbons use his roster that has a ton of rookie players on it. Here are the other topics we discussed:

Is Toronto’s main concern in the starting rotation or in the bullpen?
Miguel Castro with 13 appearances before being sent down to Buffalo
Who is the new closer in Toronto?
Pitching Matchups
Chase Whitley (tonight’s Yankee starter) coming off a good first start vs. the Rays
R.A. Dickey (tonight’s Blue Jays starter) giving up five home runs in his last three outings
Michael Pineda (Tuesday’s Yankees starter)
Marco Estrada (Tuesday’s Blue Jays starter) moving from the bullpen to the rotation.
CC Sabathia (Wednesday’s Yankees starter) trying to build off 8 K’s against Toronto in his season opener.
Mark Buehrle (Wednesday’s Blue Jays starter) is 1-14 against New York in his career.
Hitters To Watch on the Blue Jays: Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion
Yankees hitters to watch: Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury
Will Toronto eventually make a big push for Cole Hamels?

During the second part of the show, I was joined by Matt Curran and Antonio Mendes of Yanks Go Yard to recap this past series with the Red Sox, which starting pitcher has the better chance to elevate his game (CC or Eovaldi), when should New York make Chris Young the everyday right fielder, and our reaction to A-Rod’s 660^th home run and the bonus money situation.

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