Yankees Preview of Opening Series vs Tampa Bay Rays

The Yankees will not have to stray far from their spring training digs for the opening series of the season versus the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg. Finally, after one of the best spring performances in recent memory, the Baby Bombers will take the field for games that count.

As if there were ever any doubt Yankee manager Joe Girardi would name Tanaka the opening day starter, the Yankees ace will toe the mound first. Tanaka’s counterpart is none other than up and coming household name Chris Archer. Archer is coming off his worst season as a pro with a (9-19) record and a plus 4.00 ERA.

Chris Archer faced the Yankees three times last year and failed to record a win in any of his starts. Archer was touched up by the entire AL East last year, but the team did some of the most significant damage. In Archer’s 21 innings versus New York, the Yankees put up 15 hits and 12 runs.

Day 2 of the opening series features CC Sabathia trying to put together his second straight solid season. Sabathia may not be a number two starter, but until Michael Pineda shows even the slightest bit of consistency, he’s the man. CC will be opposed by Jake Odorizzi, arguably Tampa’s most consistent pitcher last season.

Without Didi Gregorius due to injury, it is of the utmost importance the Yankees take advantage of the predicted lesser AL East teams on the schedule.

Odorizzi not only had success overall last season, but he did very in walks against the Yankees in particular. Jake posted a 2.29 ERA  on his way to two wins in his three starts against the boys from the Bronx. The team must improve their team batting average against Odorizzi, .171 isn’t going to grab many wins while CC is on the mound. This second game seems to be the most up for grabs in the three-game opener in Tampa.

The final game of the series features Michael Pineda who is quickly trying to put the nightmare that was 2016 behind him. Pineda will go against possibly the first Tampa Bay Ray to be this season, Alex Cobb. Cobb is coming off not only an injury-riddled season but a terrible comeback effort at the end of 2016 which saw him push his ERA almost to 9.00 in five starts.

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Cobb has to be shaky after what he experienced last season. To add to Cobb’s shell-shock is having to face the same opponent who helped bring about the 2016 disaster. In two starts against the Yankees Cobb logged a combined 7.1 innings. The team put up 18 hits, 11 runs, and hit .474 against the Tampa Bay Rays while Cobb was on the hill. This third game should be for a sweep, if not it will be important to grab this win against Cobb whom the Yankees have had the most success against for the series wins.

Final Thoughts:

If the Yankees are to shock the league or overachieve it would be extremely dependent on a fast start in April. Without Didi Gregorius due to injury, it is of the utmost importance the team takes advantage of the predicted lesser AL East teams on the schedule. That means posting at least a 4-2 record against the Rays who they play twice within the first nine games of the 2017 campaign.

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Coming into the home opener the same Tampa Bay team, it would be great to have the Yankees be 3-0. With the success the Yankees have had against Archer and Cobb, it would be an early season failure if the Yankees came to the Bronx next Monday with a record under .500. A failure they could easily come back from, but why kill all the excitement surrounding this team right now by falling on its collective face in Tampa?