New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers: Will Warren vs. Troy Melton

I’m going to take one small moment to complain about something. Because MLB has insisted on divvying up games between some one thousand different broadcasters, I was unable to watch and recap Sunday’s loss to the Red Sox. Me being in Canada, I was also tapped to recap the Fourth of July game to give my beloved fellow staff members some time off, and I almost always have a regular recap on Sundays. All that is to say that while the Yankees are playing their worst baseball possible, I have four games in six days that I am contractually obligated to give analysis on.

Ergo, Yankees, for me, please give me more to discuss than yesterday. All that mattered in Tuesday’s loss was Cam Schlittler giving up four home runs. I am hopeful that Will Warren does not do that himself, and while getting four hits for the first time in a week was a step forward, I hope the lineup manages to triple that.

Warren has hit a bit of a rough patch. His outing last weekend against the Red Sox was bad on its face, five earned runs allowed and not a single strikeout in 5.2 innings pitched. In his last four starts though, he’s managed a 5.49 ERA and while he’s done a good job of keeping the ball in the yard, a 4.2 percent K-BB%—for my money the single best pitching stat—terrifies me. With so many injuries, the Yankee lineup was bound to take a step back, and the rotation needs to be better in games the team is going to have to scratch and claw to score in. Warren did miss the Tigers series last week so it’ll be his first time seeing this squad in 2026.

Troy Melton goes for Detroit, having a very good season from a pure run prevention standpoint, but would merit plenty of articles in 2013 exposing the difference between ERA and FIP. The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent, to be sure, but he does not strike many men out and gives up a lot of fly balls. It’s Yankee Stadium, where 92-mph exit velo flyouts can turn into home runs, so hopefully that spells good news for the Yankees.

I guess you’d call this the B- lineup, due in part to a spat of food poisoning going around the clubhouse (no joke). Cody Bellinger is back in left field and batting third, but Austin Wells is batting seventh and even with the illnesses afoot, that seems far too high. We’re also trying an experiment with José Caballero in center field. Whatever happens today, it should at least be interesting.

How to watch

Location: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY

First pitch: 1:35 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES, Detroit SportsNet

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | WXYT 97.1 FM (DET)

Streaming: Gotham Sports App, MLB.TV (out-of-market only)

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