Yanks Go Yard Radio Show Rewind: Rays-Yankees Preview (4/22-4/24)

On this episode, we looked ahead to this weekend’s series in the Bronx between the Rays and the Yankees

On Wednesday night’s episode of the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show, I started off by looking at the New York Yankees (5-9) continued offensive struggles. In a series where the Oakland Athletics were not starting Sonny Gray, the Bronx Bombers scored only seven runs and ended up getting swept.

More from Yankees News

• Yankees trade Lucas Luetge for 2 intriguing Braves prospects after DFA
• Never forget Miguel Andújar wrecked Yankees’ Nolan Arenado trade
• Diamondbacks outfielder’s comment on Carlos Rodón’s IG raises eyebrows
• Aaron Judge Time interview scared Yankees as much as it scared you
• Why weren’t Yankees in on Kodai Senga now that we know the price?

Through six games on this current homestand, the Yankees are 1-5 and have lost six of their last seven games. They conclude their homestand this weekend against the Tampa Bay Rays (7-8), who are in fourth in the AL East.

So far this season, Kevin Cash’s squad has struggled to score runs on offense. Despite scoring 22 runs in their last series against the Boston Red Sox, the Rays are tied for 26^th in the majors in offense, but they are still fifth in the American League in home runs (17). The leader in home runs on the team is left fielder Corey Dickerson (four), who was acquired in an offseason deal with the Colorado Rockies for reliever Jake McGee.

More from Yanks Go Yard

• Yankees trade Lucas Luetge for 2 intriguing Braves prospects after DFA
• Never forget Miguel Andújar wrecked Yankees’ Nolan Arenado trade
• Early prices for Yankees 2022 Bowman Draft cards are absurd
• Surprising stat could breed Yankees-Reds deal at 2023 trade deadline
• Is anybody going to sign Aroldis Chapman away from Yankees?

As far as the Rays’ starting pitching goes, the story has been the struggles of their ace, Chris Archer. Archer, who will not pitch this weekend, is 0-4 with a 7.32 ERA in his first four starts. In fact, out of the seven Rays’ wins, only two of them have come from their starting pitching. We did the show Wednesday night before the Rays announced today that they are calling up one of their top pitching prospects, 23-year-old left-hander Blake Snell, to face the Yankees on Saturday.

Next: Betances Is Baseball's Biggest Bargain

To talk more about the Rays, I spoke with Dave Hill, who is now the senior editor of FanSided’s general baseball site, Call To The Pen. Dave gave his thoughts on why Archer is struggling and the Rays struggling to score more runs. Here are more of the topics we discussed:

• Impressions of the Rays through the first two weeks
• Impact of Dickerson on this offense
• Center fielder Kevin Kiermaier (.220, one home run, three RBI’s) off to a slow start
• Pitching Matchup Breakdown
• Matt Moore (Tonight’s Rays’ starter) starting to look like he did in 2013?
• CC Sabathia (Tonight’s Yankees’ starter) with 11 groundball outs in his last outing
• Masahiro Tanaka (Tomorrow’s Yankees’ starter) has not lost to the Rays in his career
• Drew Smyly (Sunday’s Rays’ starter) allowed just one hit over eight innings in his last start
• Michael Pineda (Sunday’s Yankees’ starter) has not given up a home run in his last two outings
• Rays hitter to watch: Corey Dickerson
• Yankees hitters to watch: Brian McCann and Mark Teixeira
• How are the Rays handling the closer role without Brad Boxberger?

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE RAYS-YANKEES PREVIEW SHOW!!!