The New York Yankees are gunning for the American League East crown this season. In order to capture the division title, they’ll have to down the defending champion Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees will get their first crack at the Orioles on Monday evening, in the first game of their four-game season series.
They are up for the challenge of downing one of the best teams in the MLB this year, as Aaron Judge testified to ahead of their matchup, per Greg Joyce of the New York Post:
“We’re excited,” Judge said. “We’ve been watching them from afar, they’re a great team. They got a great young team. They did a lot of good things last year, especially winning the division. We’re excited to get out there and have some fun.”
Orioles got the better of the Yankees in 2023
The Orioles did indeed do good things in 2023. Some of that came against the Yankees. Baltimore went 7-6 against New York in that campaign and hung seven or more runs on the Yankees in four of those wins. That included a monster 14-1 win over the Yankees on July 6, 2023.
This time around, the Orioles are fielding a strong unit with the addition of former National League Cy Young award winner Corbin Burnes leading their pitching staff.
What type of threat do the Orioles pose to the Yankees in 2024
The Orioles are leading the MLB in home runs (44) and are second in RBIs (147) while also showing control on the mound with a 1.18 WHIP, good for sixth-best in the Majors.
The Yankees (19-10) are one game above the Orioles (17-10) in the standings at the present. In order to remain in control of the AL East lead once the series concludes, they’ll need to control the Orioles’ torrid power hitting at the plate and force their pitchers to respect them when they come up to bat.
The Yankees can take control of the MLB in the win-loss column with a strong showing against the Orioles
Judge will be instrumental in those latter efforts, especially as he works his way out of a marked early-season slump. Judge has produced three home runs and seven RBIs in his last five games, signaling that his cold stretch may be over.
He’ll look to carry over that momentum along with his laser focus on downing the Orioles into their first matchup on Monday evening. A dominant series win could give them the MLB’s best record, as they are only 1.5 games back from the top-seeded Atlanta Braves (19-7).