MLB: New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays | 16 August, 7:05 AM (PST)

[Mary C]

POTENTIAL STARTING LINEUPS: 

NEW YORK YANKEES: 

C | Kyle Higashioka 

FB | Anthony Rizzo 

SB | DJ LeMahieu 

S | Isaiah Kiner-Falefa 

TB | Josh Donaldson 

LF | Joey Gallo 

CF | Aaron Hicks 

RF | Aaron Judge 

DH | Giancarlo Stanton 

 

TAMPA BAY RAYS: 

C | Francisco Mejia 

FB | Ji-Man Choi 

SB | Brandon Lowe 

S | Taylor Walls 

TB | Yandy Diaz 

LF | David Peralta 

CF | Jose Siri 

RF | Randy Arozarena 

DH | Harold Ramirez 

 

 

Airing at 7:05 AM in the Philippines, Yankee Stadium will be welcoming another opponent this Tuesday coming from Florida. The Tampa Bay Rays are fresh off an 8-2 win against the Baltimore Orioles as of this writing. The Yankees are also enjoying a much-needed vengeful 3-2 result in their second match against the Boston Red Sox before heading into Tuesday’s game. It’s no secret that both teams are struggling, the Yankees mainly, but with their recent wins there might be a slither of hope forming for better coming days. For their series of three, let’s see who’s more likely to win their opening day.  

 

Starting with our esteemed home team, New York has won 72 and lost 42 games. As of late, they’ve been unfortunate with only two wins per their last 10 games. Suffering losses at the hands of the Red Sox, Mariners, Cardinals, and Royals, it’s not what anyone would’ve expected from the Yankees. They’ve always been known to be the “better NY team”, but now, the Mets rank second in the entire league while falling to fourth. Though still one of the leading NY teams, we’ve analyzed what’s been causing their poor performance, and we’ve found it’s due to injuries and plain old cold streaks. While injuries aren’t taking over the team, the injured players Giancarlo Stanton, Michael King, Luis Severino, and Matt Carpenter are all key players.  

 

On the other side of this intradivision head-to-head, the Tampa Bay Rays rank third in AL East, recently overtaking the Orioles. With 61-51, they’ve landed 13th in the MLB, which was quite the distance from finishing third last season. They’ve had a record of 5-5 per their last 10 games and currently sporting a .237 average. Their preceding matches consisted of winning and losing once to the Baltimore Orioles, losing twice to the Milwaukee Brewers, and winning three in a series of four against the Detroit Tigers. Jeffrey Springs is expected to pitch for the team for Tuesday’s game, and it’s looking bright considering his impressive stats.  

 

To round this up, while both teams are far from expected to show their maximum potential for their series, we can’t help but root for the Tampa Bay Rays. They’re at a numerical disadvantage in terms of players and team stats against a team like the Yankees who started the season strong. The odds are stacked against the Yankees, especially with their cold streak. The Rays offer better consistency by comparison. It’s another loss at home for the Yankees. 

 

Tuesday, August 16, 2022. Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY.