Don’t look now, but the Yankees are starting to get on a roll. After a big win on Thursday to close out their series with the Rays, Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a clutch home run to put them ahead for good against the Nationals last night. Now, the American League’s best pitcher takes the ball hoping to get his club their third straight win in a Saturday afternoon affair (with the MLB Draft afoot as well; look for the Yankees to get their first-round pick in within the next hour).
Cam Schlittler shoved on Monday against the Rays, delivering the first of two wins in that set. Eight innings, one run allowed, a strikeout per inning and no walks was exactly what his deflated squad needed. The Nationals aren’t quite as good as the Rays, so Cam should have a little more breathing room today, but if he wants to go ahead and throw another eight shutout in his final start of the unofficial first half, I’m going to watch and enjoy it.
PJ Poulin counters for the Nats, an opener getting his second taste of MLB action after a brief call-up last year. A 2.83 ERA is sparkling, and a 46.6-percent groundball rate ain’t too bad at all, but he essentially strikes out as many batters as he walks, and his FIP is nearly three full runs higher. Discipline and elevation are the keys to pushing runs across against a pitcher like this — he’s not gonna strike you out, so get your pitch and get it in the air. Fortunately, the Yankees are a bit homer-happy after last night, so hopefully that continues.
Following Poulin will be veteran Miles Mikolas, who has been arguably the worst full-time pitcher in baseball. A 5.78 ERA is ugly, but his 5.51 FIP indicates that it’s a deserved ugliness. For all the drama surrounding D.C.‘s Reflecting Pool the past few weeks, we need to consider the damage that baseballs landing in it may cause.
We see some similarities in the lineups the past two days, with Amed Rosario back at leadoff (and, perhaps regrettably, third base) and World’s Oldest Man Paul Goldschmidt cleaning up after snapping his lengthy oh-fer last night. Ali Sánchez finds himself catching and rounding out the lineup, while the red-hot Ben Rice is your DH and hopefully continuing to practice for Monday’s Home Run Derby.
How to watch
Location: Nationals Park — Washington, D.C.
First pitch: 4:05 pm ET
TV broadcast: YES, Nationals.TV
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280; WJFK 106.7 The Fan
Online stream: Gotham Sports App, MLB.tv (out-of-market only)
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