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It was indeed Tanaka Time yesterday as Masahiro answered the bell with possibly his best performance of the season, setting a career high in strikeouts (15) in the process. This is great news for New York as they position for the Wild Card game and keep faint hopes alive for the division crown.
The Yanks can keep pressure on Beantown with a win today, but they’ll have to get past Marcus Stroman and spoiler-minded Toronto Blue Jays. The wise guys actually have New York as a slight favorite, and the books on the Astros-Red Sox matchup is dead even with a Over/Under of 9. Stroman is prone to giving up the long ball, so New York will have to work counts and get runners into scoring position. CC Sabathia has fared better on the road this season, but is coming off consecutive wins at The Stadium. He’ll need to keep the Jays’ big bats at bay while the Yankees offense tries to wear Stroman down.
Saturday, September 30, 2017 vs Toronto Blue Jays
Key Stats At-A-Glance
Money Line : Jays +151, Yankees -161
Over/Under : 8.5
Line Moves : Late ducats coming in on New York
Park Factors : Yankee Stadium is considered a hitter’s park.
Weather : 60°, cloudy, Wind N 14MPH, 15% chance of rain.
Trends
- The Blue Jays are 3-10 in their last 13 games at Yankee Stadium.
- The Yankees are 47-27 (.635) as home favorites, fourth best in MLB.
- Marcus Stroman has a 0.94 ERA versus leadoff hitters in 2017.
- With runners in scoring position, Stroman’s ERA jumps to 9.66.
Marcus Stroman vs The Yankees
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Marcus Stroman ($9,800) recorded a win last Sunday against the Yankees in Toronto, allowing three runs over 5.2 innings, striking out two. The right-hander is having a solid September, going 2-2 across five starts with a 2.61 ERA striking out 23 over 26.1 innings.
Stroman has not been his dominant self against the Yankees in 2017, allowing 12 earned runs over 19.2 innings and walking 10 while striking out 11. He’s had two starts at The Stadium where New York is batting .344 off him over 8 innings, taking the loss in both outings.
Here’s who to consider in today’s lineup.
- Aaron Judge ($5,700) : As his monster September continues, Judge is raking at a .375 clip over the past seven games with 5 HRs, 11 RBI and 1 stolen base. Judge has 5 hits in 10 ABs against Stroman, including two home runs.
- Brett Gardner ($4,300) : Gardy has the most ABs against Stroman than anyone on the active roster, going 9-33, .272, with two home runs and two doubles.
- Jacoby Ellsbury ($4,000) : While also having a very strong final month of the regular season, you might consider sitting Ells against Stroman. He’s 3-24 (.125) with six strikeouts.
CC Sabathia vs The Toronto Blue Jays
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CC Sabathia ($8,300) The Big Man will be looking to improve on his 13-5 (3.84 ERA) mark and keep New York’s slim pennant hopes alive. He comes in with 8.44 ERA against Toronto where he’s allow 15 earned runs across 16 innings, a WHIP of 1.81.
Here’s who CC needs to be careful with in the Jays lineup:
- Teoscar Hernandez ($3,200) : Hernandez is the pride of Toronto’s batch of young prospects and has already shown he can handle major league pitching. He has one home run against Tanaka in 3 at bats.
- Josh Donaldson ($4,600) : The Jay’s starting third baseman has been hot over the last month of the season, including smacking a pair of dingers off Chris Sale this week. Tanaka has handled Donaldson well (4-28, .143) but that could change today.
- Russell Martin (3,500) : No matter what kind of season Martin is having, you have to worry about when playing the Yankees. Not sure if he’s still ticked about getting kicked to the curb when the club signed free agent Brian McCann or what, but he kills the Yankees more often than not.
After this game, it’s just one more — the regular season finale. Tomorrow’s game is a 1:05pm EST start time.
THE FINE PRINT : The fantasy lineup suggestions are purely speculation and should not be taken as gospel. Anything can and will happen in a baseball game, but this content is designed to provide a starting point for your lineup research. Best of luck, and let’s go Yankees!
