After taking the series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays 13-5, the New York Yankees hit the road for seven extremely important games.
The Yankees head to Baltimore for a four game set with the Orioles, before heading to Kansas City for three games with the Royals. Those two teams are the worst two teams in the AL.
Since those two teams are so bad, it’s extremely important for the Yankees to win all of them. They need to build a lead over the Rays, and the Red Sox are playing well and approaching the top, so distance between those teams would be nice.
The Yankee road trip however has seemed to get off to a rough start. George A. King lll reported that there was a mechanical issue with the team plane, and the squad was forced to ride buses to Baltimore on Sunday night.
But, with the afternoon game on Sunday, the team should of gotten in at a reasonable time and fatigue shouldn’t be an issue.
JA Happ is expected to pitch game one on Monday, with Domingo German, and CC Sabathia following on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Masahiro Tanaka is expected to pitch on Thursday, pending that he doesn’t land on the IL.
We aren’t really sure who will pitch on Friday. It could be a bullpen game, or James Paxton could possibly rejoin the rotation. Then on Saturday, the ball goes back to JA Happ.
Anything but a 7-0 road trip should be considered a failure for the Yankees. With the games against poor teams, these are games the team absolutely needs to win.