Yankees at Padres: 5 things to watch and series predictions | Sept. 4-6

Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Yankees travel to San Diego to take on the Padres in a three-game series starting Friday…

5 things to watch

Lombard’s return?

George Lombard Jr. has missed four straight games after injuring his right knee on a swing in the second of last Saturday’s doubleheader with the Red Sox. 

The Yankees maintain it’s a day-to-day situation, and there’s an expectation that the shortstop will return to the lineup when the series starts up on Friday, and New York could use the youngster.

Jose Caballero has valiantly started at shortstop, but he has not had a good road trip. He went 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts — including two errors — in the three-game series with the Angels. While Lombard wasn’t hitting well when he got injured, 5-for-24 in his last seven games, he continued to put professional at-bats and get on base regularly. 

And after Lombard’s error streak came to an end, that elite defense began to show up again, which the Yankees can always use. 

Bullpen tryouts

Since the injury to Fernando Cruz, the Yankees have had to use different pitchers to fill the bullpen.

John Schreiber, Michael Fulmer and Luis Gil are the new faces in the ‘pen and vying to earn Aaron Boone‘s trust and make their way onto the postseason roster. 

All three have been solid so far, and with Clarke Schmidt‘s return imminent — and also pitching for a spot in the bullpen — this weekend will be another testing ground for these three arms. 

Jones vs. Grisham

Trent Grisham has struggled of late on both sides of the ball. So much so that Boone benched the veteran and used Spencer Jones in center field in the series finale with the Angels.

Over his last seven games, Grisham is 2-for-22 while Jones is 6-for-18 with two home runs.

Jones looked competent in center field on Wednesday and is athletic enough to handle the position, but how often will Boone have the rookie start instead of Grisham? They are both left-handers, so the starting pitcher may determine who plays. 

San Diego will deploy Walker Buehler (RHP), Robbie Ray (LHP) and Michael King (RHP) this weekend. That could mean Grisham gets the start against the right-handers with Jones — who is hitting southpaws better than Grisham — to start the middle game. But we’ll just have to wait and see how Boone handles the playing time. 

Will Elmer get another shot?

Elmer Rodriguez’s spot in the rotation is for Sunday’s series finale and the Yankees have yet to announce who will start that game. 

Rodriguez, after the best start of his big league career, had arguably his worst. Monday against the Angels, Rodriguez allowed four runs in 3.2 innings and set the Yankees back for the rest of the series with all the relievers they had to use in the opener. 

Will Boone give the ball to Rodriguez one more time? Ryan Weathers could be activated for the following series, so this could be the last chance to make an impression for the rookie. Or, with the off day Monday, the Yankees could go with a bullpen game and activate Weathers for the home series against the Rockies. 

AL East race

The Yankees enter play Thursday 3.5 games behind the Rays for the AL East crown. With a major four-game series with Tampa later this month, the Yankees hope to draw closer this weekend.

Of course, the Padres are in the midst of a playoff race of their own. They enter play 0.5 games out of the final wild card spot and every game is dire for them. 

Predictions

Who will the MVP of the series be?

Cody Bellinger

Bellinger has been hot since coming off the IL. He’s 12-for-29 over his last seven, including going 8-for-14 against the Angels. 

Which Yankees pitcher will have the best start?

Max Fried

Fried struggled in his first start off the IL, unable to get out of the fourth inning, but he’ll find his way this weekend.

Which Padres player will be a thorn in the Yankees’ side?

Fernando Tatis Jr.

The shortstop has turned his season around after a slow start and that continues this weekend.