The New York Yankees are riding the baseball horse pretty well to start off the season. They are 3-1. In a regular-season considering the 2.7 importance factor, that’s the equivalent of 9-3. Tonight the Yankees will again face the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards hoping to sweep the two-game series before moving on to Opening Day at Yankee Stadium facing the Boston Red Sox.
The weather in Baltimore will not be near perfect. It may start out that way with cloudy skies and a game-time temperature at about 90. Problems may arise later in the game as scattered thunderstorms increase. The game tonight will be broadcast on the YES Network and in Baltimore on MASN 2.
Starting for the Baltimore Orioles will be John Means. Means a lefty was a rookie All-Star last season, the only Oriole to make the All-Star team. He is the first Oriole to make the team in his rookie year since Mike Mussina did it in 1992. This will be his first game of this short season for the Orioles. He finished last season with a 12-11 record with an ERA of 3.60 in 27 starts. He also pitched out of the bullpen in five additional games during the season.
The 27-year-old Means if just coming off the 10 day IL with arm fatigue, which is a bit unusual this early in the season. In 2019, he relied primarily on his Fourseam Fastball (92mph) and Change (81mph), also mixing in a Slider (84mph) and Curve (77mph). … His curve results in more flyballs compared to other pitchers’ curves, has little depth, and has primarily 12-6 movement.
Means will face the New York Yankees J.A. Happ. Happ is coming off a 12-8 season with an ERA of 4.91 which was almost double his ERA in 2018. There is no question the Happ is in the twilight of his pitching career at age 37. He will become a free agent after this season with the Yankees. He had a vested option for 2021, but in this short season, he will not reach the innings pitched threshold for that to kick in.
J.A. Happ was slated to make his season debut Monday night, and Cole’s start Tuesday evening would be his second of the year. If a game was played Tuesday, Happ could start it, and that would move Cole to Wednesday night’s game against the Phillies in the Yankees’ home opener. But in this season of unknowns, that did not happy. Instead due to the Marlins CV-19 outbreak, the Yankees played the Orioles. To keep Cole on normal rest he pitched last night in Baltimore.
Now with 8 days rest, Happ will make his regular-season debut tonight, the first start in the 14th year of his major league career. Happ last year was somewhat of a disappointment to the Yankees going only 12-8 after his 2018 Yankee campaign when he went 7-0 in eleven starts. However, a good sign for the Yankees is that he was their best pitcher in summer camp. In 13 spring innings, Happ worked to a 1.38 ERA while allowing only one homer.
The New York Yankees hope to sweep the short series tonight at Orioles Park before moving on to the Stadium to face the Red Sox. The Friday start at the Stadium will be Opening Day in New York. It comes while Yankee fans have waited about a hundred days for it to finally happen. Unfortunately for fans, they won’t be in the stands at Yankee Stadium for the first time since the 1973 renovation season.
Prediction: Yankees 6-4.