At long last, the Captain is back.
Aaron Judge has returned to the Yankee lineup, just in time for the lowly Colorado Rockies to come to the Bronx for a three-game series. Better yet, Cam Schlittler will be making the start on the mound to begin this homestand. It’s got all the makings of a joyous night at the Stadium—but you’ve gotta win the games in front of you.
The Rockies enter this series owners of a 55-88 record, dead last in the National League, and second worst in baseball. Their lineup—while below average—is honestly not awful, but their pitching has been characteristically poor: a 5.47 staff ERA and 4.77 FIP. It’s the kind of staff the Yankees, who have been dying to find some offensive consistency, could definitely use as a warm-up for the final push with Judge back in the fold.
Tonight, they’ll be starting Gabriel Hughes, a 25-year-old rookie who has pitched to a 6.19 ERA in his first 11 MLB games. Those numbers are distended by two consecutive seven-run clunkers from a few weeks back—the 4.05 FIP is one of many figures that indicate he’s gotten a bit of a raw deal. Yankee Stadium will be a tough environment for the young man to handle, though.
Schlittler continues to cruise in the second half as he tries to win the Cy Young race with Dylan Cease. His last time out was yet another showstopper: eight innings of one-run ball against the Angels. It’s true that his numbers in Yankee Stadium have been slightly less stellar, but I don’t think he would have preferred to deal with the Coors Field run environment. He’s perfectly content defending home field tonight.
Make sure you’re back home in time for the bottom of the first inning: Aaron Judge will be batting third behind Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger. He’s utterly surrounded by lefties, unsurprisingly: Luis García Jr., Spencer Jones, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. make up the middle of the order after Judge. George Lombard Jr. bats seventh, Ryan McMahon hits eighth, and Austin Wells brings up the caboose.
How to watch
Location: Yankee Stadium — Bronx, NY
First pitch: 7:05 pm ET
TV/Streaming: YES, Rockies.TV
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 – NYY | KWFN 97.3, XEMO 860 – SD
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