Toronto Blue Jays vs. New York Yankees 6/25/19: Starting Lineups, Matchup Preview, Betting Odds

TV/Radio Section

Toronto Blue Jays vs. New York Yankees, 6/25/19 7:05 PM ET Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
TV: Blue Jays (SNET, TVA Sports), Yankees (YES)
Radio: Blue Jays (SN590), Yankees (WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280)

Matchup Preview

Despite losing against the Houston Astros a day before, the Yankees just keep rolling, besting the Toronto Blue Jays 10-8 on Monday night. They’re now 9-1 over their past 10 and stretched their lead to 5 games over the Tampa Bay Rays, good enough for the 3rd best record in the MLB. Toronto now sits at 29-50 on the year and 21.5 games behind New York. Though they’re still mathematically in the race, I doubt anyone watching seriously believes this Blue Jays team has any playoff aspirations.

On Tuesday night, we’ll see the Blue Jays have Clayton Richard (0-3) on the bump. They’ll head into the matchup on a 4-6 streak over their past 10 games. Richard will seek his first win on Tuesday night after a rough season on the mound so far. He will enter with a 7.46 ERA and struggling command. On the year, he’s pitched 25 ⅓ innings with 14 strikeouts but surrendered 15 walks.

New York doesn’t have a starter scheduled for Tuesday night as of this writing. Whoever they start, the Blue Jays lineup doesn’t appear to pose a big threat to New York. Toronto has been a struggling offensive team despite putting up 8 runs in last night’s contest. As a team, the Yanks have been one of the better pitching teams with a 4.05 ERA and 1.27 WHIP.

Toronto Blue Jays Starting Lineup

1. Eric Sogard (L) 2B
2. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R) DH
3. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (R) LF
4. Cavan Biggio (L) RF
5. Freddy Galvis (S) SS
6. Randal Grichuk (R) CF
7. Rowdy Tellez (L) 1B
8. Brandon Drury (R) 3B
9. Danny Jansen (R) C

Blue Jays Analysis

The Blue Jays actually got to Yankees’ starter early, tagging him for 2 runs in the opening frame. After that, their offense went silent, recording just 3 hits in the next 6 innings of work. A late rally in the 8th and 9th made the score seem closer than it should’ve as Toronto tried to fight back from a 10-2 deficit. Offensively, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Randal Grichuk led the charge with 3 hits apiece. However, the pitching side of things simply didn’t hold up with starter Aaron Sanchez giving up 7 runs and reliever Derek Law giving up another 3 before the 6th inning was over.

Without a starter announced by the Yankees thus far, it’s hard to predict how Toronto’s batters will do tonight. In 2019, the Blue Jays as a team have batted .239 against southpaws and .222 against right handed pitchers. Eric Sogard and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. have both found success against both types of pitchers this season. If it is indeed a left handed pitcher, outfielder Randal Grichuk stands to benefit the most. His batting average would drop from .281 against lefties to .205 against righties.

Veteran pitcher Clayton Richard has yet to look right this year. In 6 starts, he boasts a 7.46 ERA, 1.737 WHIP, and more walks than strikeouts. The longtime Padre was traded last winter and hasn’t quite found his groove in his new home. His home ERA sits at 7.71 and has allowed righties to bat .320 against him thus far. This doesn’t bode well against a Yankees squad that’s primarily right handed and will look to have a field day against him.

Yankees Starting Lineup

1. DJ LeMahieu (R) 2B
2. Aaron Judge (R) RF
3. Luke Voit (R) 1B
4. Gary Sanchez (R) C
5. Giancarlo Stanton (R) LF
6. Edwin Encarnancion (R) DH
7. Didi Gregorious (L) SS
8. Gleyber Torres (R) 2B
9. Aaron Hicks (S) CF

Yankees Analysis

New York found great success against Toronto stater, Aaron Sanchez. In the first four innings, they only got 2 hits but everything changed in the 5th. Aaron Hicks hit his 5th home run of the year, making it 27 straight games the Yanks have homered as a team. In the 6th, New York opened the floodgates, chasing Sanchez out of the game and scoring 7 to seal the victory. Things got a bit shaky in the 8th as Jonathan Holder struggled once again, giving up 5 without recording a single out. Flamethrower Aroldis Chapman was called upon in the 9th to seal the Yankees’ 50th win on the year.

Being a lifelong Padre and making one stop as a Chicago Cub, most of the Yankees haven’t had much experience against Clayton Richard. Offseason acquisition DJ LeMahieu has 20 career has had 20 at-bats against him and recorded hits in 7 of those. Otherwise, none of New York’s other hitters have more than 3 at-bats against Richard. Look for a righty heavy lineup against the Blue Jays as the Yanks look to take the second game in this series.

With New York yet to announce a starter for tonight’s contest, one can only speculate how much success their pitcher will have. The likely pitchers unlikely to start are rotation pitchers James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ, and CC Sabathia. The most likely candidate to be on the mound for the Yanks is Chad Green who would act as an opener. Acting as a bullpen piece for the beginning of the year, Green has slowly developed as an opener after early season struggles. Within the past two weeks, he’s made 3 starts of 2 innings each. He’s been effective allowing 0 runs and collecting 12 strikeouts.

Blue Jays vs Yankees Betting Odds

The line is currently set at Blue Jays +243, Yankees -275.
Even without a starting pitcher in place, the Yankees offense should have a significant advantage against Richard. In all his starts this year, Richard has surrendered a home run which bodes well for the Yankees to continue their current streak of 27 straight games. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays will have to deal with opened Chad Green, if they follow their current rotation trend, or another yet to announced starter. The over/under is set at 12 runs.

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