New York Yankees: Nationals make huge pitching change ahead of Saturday’s game

The New York Yankees enjoyed a bout of good luck on Thursday evening against the Washington Nationals when the game was rained out at the start of the sixth inning. At that point, the Yankees were leading 4-1, and the MLB called it an official game, giving the Yankees the win without much resistance from Washington.

Not only did the game end in victory on Opening Day, but Gerrit Cole earned his first “W” in pinstripes. To go along with his performance, Giancarlo Stanton started off the game with a two-run home run, and Tyler Wade dominated the base paths.

However, the good luck hasn’t ended for the Yankees just yet, as Stephen Strasburg was scratched from Saturday’s game. While it is always enjoyable to see dominant pitchers perform, the New York Yankees now have a much higher probability of walking away with a win.

Davey Martinez said, “hopefully this is a day-to-day thing.”

In Strasburg’s absence, Erick Fedde will start Saturday night’s game against New York. He lost the fifth starter competition to Austin Voth this summer camp and being that it is an emergency start from the sixth choice pitcher, Washington is in some trouble.

Strasburg felt irritation in a nerve on his hand and simply couldn’t manage a full start. The pitcher felt his hand come down with an injury against Baltimore last Monday. The irritation did not subside leading up to Saturday’s game, and despite Washington’s best attempts to calm the nerve, Strasburg is still unable to go. Against the Orioles on Monday, he threw 81 pitches over five innings, and the pain supposedly runs from Strasburg’s wrist to his right thumb.

The Yankees will walk out James Paxton as their No. 2 pitcher against the Nationals, coming off a solid second half of 2019. He’s also rehabilitating from a surgery several months ago that removed a cyst from his lower back.