Yankees: Preview Tuesday’s contest against the Rangers

The Yankees look to rebound after being shut out against the Rangers on Monday. Texas left-hander Mike Minor threw seven-and-third scoreless innings in a 7-0 victory for the opposition.  It was the Yankees’ first game without scoring a run since June 30 of last season against Chris Sale and the Red Sox.

The past might indicate some good news.  The Yankees scored eleven runs and hit five homers in the next game following their previous shutout in 2018. James Paxton will tow the rubber for the Bombers. He got the win in his last outing Saturday, allowing one run on two hits in five innings.  The problem for Paxton was the walks, having allowed a season-high five free passes.

The good news for Paxton, however, is two-fold. First of all, he’s won six straight starts. The 30-year old lefty has a 3.57 ERA in those outings and opposing batters are hitting just .192 against him during that span. Paxton will look to become the first Yankee to collect a victory in seven consecutive starts since Ivan Nova won eight straight back in 2011.

The other piece of good news? Paxton—a strikeout pitcher—is facing an offense with a decency to whiff. Rangers’ batters have struck out 1,369 times in 2019—the most in the majors. In fact, Texas is on pace to finish the year with the second-most strikeouts by an offense in MLB history.

Most Strikeouts by an Offense

MLB History*

2018 White Sox                      1594

2017 Brewers                          1571

2016 Brewers                          1543

*Rangers: on pace for 1588 strikeouts

New York will be up against 23-year old Ariel Jurado. The young right-hander picked up a win on Saturday against the Angels. He tossed six shutout innings in a Rangers’ 3-0 victory. That win snapped a four-start losing streak for Jurado, who had a 7.84 ERA in those previous outings.

This will be Jurado’s second career start against the Yankees. He allowed six earned runs in five innings and took the loss in the Bronx on August 9 of last season. Jurado allowed four homers in that outing—all to players who won’t be in the lineup Tuesday (Aaron Hicks, Miguel Andujar, Neil Walker and Giancarlo Stanton).

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Here are some things to look for in Tuesday’s contest:

New York looks to avoid their first series loss at home since dropping two of three to the White Sox back in mid-April.

Gleyber Torres has reached base safely in 21 consecutive games. Only one Yankee in his age-22 season or younger has had a longer such streak in the expansion era (since the start of 1961). Derek Jeter reached base safely in 23 straight games in late August-thru-early September of the 1996 season.

Will DJ LeMahieu be getting a day off soon? He’s started 17 consecutive games. His last day off was back on August 14 against the Orioles.

Aroldis Chapman hasn’t allowed a run in his last eleven appearances. In fact, he’s been absolutely lights out since the start of August.

Chapman since the start of August–11 games

0.00 ERA, 11 IP, 20 K, 5 BB, .083 OPP BA, .278 OPP OPS

*all three hits he’s allowed have been singles