deGrom Gives Rangers A Change Against Yankees

Rangers vs. Yankees, 7:05 ET

Whenever you get a matchup between two teams that represented their league in the past two World Series matchups, you expect there to be fireworks. Well, maybe not whenever, considering the turnover in baseball and the way that certain teams sell off their team after they make it to the World Series. Either way, we have two teams that should be good this season with the Rangers and the Yankees battling now as a potential playoff preview.

The Rangers enter today's game over .500 and need to find a way to get consistently over the mark. There are issues with the team that probably need to be addressed, but the biggest thing is that they need to start winning regularly. We are 50 games into the season, and I'm starting to believe this is a .500 club that got lucky to win the World Series a couple of years ago. Their offense just clicked this year, and not quite as well this year or last year. The pitching staff has two top-of-the-rotation guys who can make them competitive with any team they face in any series. But, they could waste it if they don't start playing better. The Rangers are sending one of those guys, Jacob deGrom, to the mound tonight to face the Yankees. deGrom is 4-1 with a 2.29 ERA for the season with a 0.98 WHIP. The biggest thing for him is trying to stay healthy. The only issue is that on the road he has a 4.40 ERA as opposed to his 1.47 home ERA. He has allowed at least two earned runs in each of his three road starts, and has given up four of his seven homers on the road. Yankees hitters are only hitting .176 against deGrom in 51 at-bats.

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Yankees are one of the best teams in the league, and the American League East isn't even proving to be as much of a competition as I once thought they would be. New York is 28-19 for the season and probably will find a way to capture the divisional crown. They haven't missed a beat after losing the World Series and not getting Juan Soto to resign. Despite the small makeover to the team, they are playing great. Aaron Judge is having another absurd season with 16 homers, 43 RBIs, and a .403 batting average. Their rotation is a bit of a question mark, still, but they are piecing it together. Ryan Yarbrough is starting today for them. He has been a reliever and a starter for the team. Yarbrough has a 3.70 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP for the year. Rangers hitters are batting just .221 against Yarbrough in 86 at-bats, with none of the hitters really standing out.

If we look at the game from a few different perspectives, I think we see some interesting things: The better team is clearly the Yankees. The team with the better pitcher is without a doubt the Rangers. Pitching usually beats hitting, but I deGrom hasn't been quite as sharp on the road. I am a bit worried that the Rangers hitters will struggle, but I think deGrom will give them enough opportunity to win the first five innings. 

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