Yanks Go Yard Radio Show Rewind: Yankees-Braves Preview (8/28-8/30)

On last night’s episode of the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show, I started off the episode by talking about the New York Yankees’ (69-57) recent offensive struggles against the Houston Astros. The Bronx Bombers lost two out of three games in the series and they were beaten handily by a combined score of 22-4. Plus, the Yankees are still banged up as Mark Teixeira came back Tuesday, but sat out Wednesday because of a sore leg and Jacoby Ellsbury missed yesterday’s game with a hip injury. New York enters the weekend trailing the Blue Jays by 1.5 games in the AL East, but they have a four game lead on the Texas Rangers for the first Wild Card spot.

In addition to giving my takeaways from the series, I gave my thought on Brian Cashman’s comments from yesterday that Rob Refsnyder would be coming back to the big leagues when the rosters expand on Tuesday, but Aaron Judge will be staying behind at triple-A Scranton. After going 5-5 on their ten game homestand, New York heads on the road for six games. Their road trip starts tonight when they begin a three game series against the Atlanta Braves (53-71) at Turner Field.

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While the Braves have been in rebuilding mode since the offseason, they have gone through some tough struggles lately. They are 12-26 since the All-Star Break and have won just eight of the 24 games they played this month. This year, the Braves’ offense has scored the fewest runs in the National League (464).

However, they recently got Freddie Freeman (.277, 14 HR, 47 RBI’s) back in the lineup. The Braves’ first baseman had battled an oblique injury and made his return to the lineup on August 19. One of Atlanta’ offseason acquisitions, right fielder Nick Markakis, is having success out of the leadoff spot. The former Orioles’ right fielder is hitting .301 this season and has an on-base percentage of .371. Since the All-Star Break, he is hitting .318 with three home runs and 20 RBI’s.

Due to injuries to Manny Banuelos and Mike Minor as well as trading away Alex Wood at the deadline, there is a lot of youth in Fredi Gonzalez’s rotation, but they have a lot of talent. Their starter’s ERA of 4.21 is ninth in the National League, but give President John Hart credit for acquiring pitchers like Matt Wisler and Mike Foltynewicz during the offseason when he dealt Craig Kimbrel and Evan Gattis to the Padres and Astros respectively.

The bullpen looks a lot different for the Braves then when it did at the beginning of the season. Kimbrel was dealt the day before the season began, Jason Grilli tore his ACL in July, and Jim Johnson was dealt to the Dodgers at the trade deadline. Their new closer is former Yankee prospect Arodys Vizcaino, who has converted his first four save chances.

To get more information on the Braves, I spoke with Jonathan Savitske and John Buhler, two junior editors from the Fansided site, ATL All Day. We talked about John Hart’s plan in his first year as Braves President and what Atlanta fans should watch for in the final weeks of the season. Here are some of the other topics we discussed:

Evaluating John Hart’s Plan in his first year with the Braves
Impact of having Freddie Freeman back in the lineup
Markakis Carrying The Load In the Leadoff Spot
Pitching Matchup Breakdown
Williams Perez (tonight’s Braves’ starter) is 0-4 with a 7.98 ERA in his last five starts
Masahiro Tanaka (tonight’s Yankees’ starter) has given up only four of his 19 home runs on the road this season (2.85)
Matt Wisler (tomorrow’s Braves’ starter) has seen opponents hit .310 against him this season
Luis Severino (tomorrow’s Yankees’ starter) has had his pitch count increase in each of his four starts
Julio Teheran (Sunday’s Braves’ starter) is 3-0 with a 2.73 ERA this month
Nathan Eovaldi (Sunday’s Yankees’ starter) has a 4.94 ERA on the road, but has yet to lose a day game.
Braves’ hitters to watch: Andrelton Simmons and Christian Bethancourt
Cameron Maybin‘s success with runners in scoring position
Yankees’ hitters to watch: Mark Teixeira and Didi Gregorius
Brian McCann’s return to Atlanta
When will Shelby Miller win a game for the Braves (0-10, 3.24 ERA in his last 18 starts)?

Plus, at the end of the episode, check out my interview with the 16th pick in this year’s draft, right-handed pitcher James Kaprielian that I recorded Monday night in Staten Island. Kaprielian is pitching for the Staten Island Yankees and is making his home debut tonight after throwing three no-hit innings against the Lowell Spinners (Boston Red Sox) last Saturday.

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