Birds Can Spoil Cole's 2024 Debut

Orioles vs. Yankees, 7:05 ET

I've mentioned playoff matchups before in these articles and even some World Series matchups. Tonight's game won't be one that has a World Series potential, but the sole reason for that is because they both are in the American League, specifically, they both are in the AL East. The one thing that baseball should potentially change is the Division matchups. It is possible that the Orioles and Yankees could take each other on in the first round of the playoffs, but that is a long way away from happening. 

The race between the Orioles and the Yankees is probably the most interesting of all battles in baseball this season. The Orioles currently sit behind the Yankees and that has to be a bit frustrating considering they are over 20 games above .500. The team is doing a great job on offense but still sits behind the Yankees in every offensive category except for Slugging Percentage and home runs. The one thing that I think the Orioles have going for them that the Yankees might not is that they seem to have more balance across their entire team. In my opinion, they are better at station-to-station baseball, but can also beat you with the long ball. Their pitching staff has been good for the season, and they are sporting a 3.07 ERA with a 1.13 WHIP and a .217 opponent batting average. They allow a lot fewer walks as well. Cade Povich is tonight's starter and he has only made two start for the Orioles. One of them was bad, and the other was really good. In the one road start, he allowed six earned runs on five hits in 5.1 innings. This was the first start of his career. In his second start, he was able to throw six innings and allowed five hits and no runs. The question is which version of Povich will show up? Will he shell up in the bright lights of New York? Or, will he show why he was pulled up to the Major League roster?

The rich get richer. We've already seen the Boston Celtics find a way to hang their 18th banner this year, are we going to see the Yankees add to their illustrious championship total? They certainly look like the best team in baseball and anything less than a World Series appearance would almost certainly be a disappointing season. The team has pretty much everything going for them, and is getting better today as they get back their best pitcher, Gerrit Cole. They did recently lose Anthony Rizzo for a stretch with a fractured arm, but gaining Cole is probably something they would've accepted in a trade anyway. Cole hasn't pitched this season, but now comes back to a team that doesn't even necessarily need him. He's been a great pitcher for years, and the team is better with him, but last year they needed him to be their best pitcher. He was able to do that with ease last season, going 15-4 with a 2.63 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP, along with 222 strikeouts. Will he come right out and be the stud he was last year or will it take him a moment to get his barring and adjust? I assume he will be on a pitch count or some sort of innings limit as well. He went against the Orioles twice last season. In the first game, at home, he allowed five earned runs over five innings. In the second game, he allowed no earned runs in seven innings on the road. 

I think the value in this game is actually on the Orioles. I think we are likely to see Povich perform closer to what he did against the Braves than what he did against the Blue Jays. I prefer to take the full game for the Orioles in this one because, although the Yankees bullpen is good, I think the Orioles probably keep it close against Cole and then can win the game against the Yankees later. I'll back the birds for the full game. 

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