YGY 2014 Series Preview Show: Houston Astros (4/1-4/3)

The New York Yankees will begin their 2014 campaign tonight against the Houston Astros. Minute Maid Park is a familiar venue for the Yankees considering they ended their 2013 season in the very same building. Now, the Yankees will head to Texas with a new trio of players in their lineup via the likes of Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, and Carlos Beltran.

The Houston Astros finished last season at a dismal 51-111 in their first season in the AL West. They will come into this season on a 15-game losing streak, dating back to last season. That being said, Houston did go out and acquire outfielders Dexter Fowler and Brandon Barnes via a trade with the Colorado Rockies. Plus, they went to free agency and signed veteran pitcher Scott Feldman to help their young pitchers out. This is a team with a lot of great talent in the minor leagues in George Springer, Jonathan Singleton, and Mark Appel to name a few. The future is coming, but the present isn’t as pleasant.

On this episode of the Yanks Go Yard Series Preview Show (recorded Sunday), I spoke with Ray Kuhn of Climbing Tal’s Hill about the expectations for this year’s Astros’ team. We broke down the pitching matchups for this series and some players to watch, including Astros’ left fielder Robbie Grossman, who is batting second in tonight’s lineup. Here are some other talking points we brought up on Sunday night’s show!

• C.C. Sabathia‘s velocity concerns
• Feldman’s numbers vs. Yankees last season
• Jarred Cosart‘s good fastball, but mediocre control
• Ivan Nova as the #3 starter
• Potential for home runs against Brett Oberholtzer
• Who is Houston’s closer? (Chad Qualls, Josh Fields, Matt Albers?)
• David Robertson begins first full season as closer
• Mark Teixeira‘s wrist

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