Damn the torpedo bats! Full speed ahead!
The San Francisco Giants have won exactly three series against the New York Yankees over the past 104 years: the 1921 & 1922 World Serieses, and the interleague matchup hosted at Oracle Park (then AT&T Park) in June 2007. It breaks down to just 25 wins in 64 franchise matchups, from New York to the Bay, and since the turn of the century — when interleague play became a regular feature of the sport — the Giants are 6-15 against the Bronx Bombers.
So, you know, whatever. Thank goodness the Giants got off to such a hot start. Losing two out of three to the Cincinnati Reds was a good streakbreaker and expectations resetter and so losing two out of three this weekend at Yankee Stadium — if history follows pattern — shouldn’t come as some big shock.
The only factors that might help the Giants out here is that the Yankees’ rotation features a lot of understudies thanks to the preseason injuries of Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, and Clarke Schmit. Marcus Stroman, who’d been exiled to the bullpen after losing trust as a starter, is back in that role. Their top pitching prospect, Will Warren, has been thrust into a starting role. Their investment in Max Fried seems to have paid off, but the rotation is basically him, Carlos Rodón, Carlos Carrasco, and the other two I’ve mentioned.
On the offensive side, well, the Yankees jumped out of the gates creating a huge story with those danged torpedo bats, which have gone viral this year. Predictably, the virality has sparked outrage, as baseball fans abhor anything new and are quick to call “cheating” when they don’t understand something or it doesn’t solely benefit their favorite team. I hope the hysteria has calmed down some. They opened the season at home against the Milwaukee Brewers, a team that keeps shedding good players (Corbin Burnes a couple of years ago, Willy Adames this year) and scored 36 runs in that 3-game series (ouch!). Since then, their 46 runs scored is 6th in MLB, 1 more run than the Diamondbacks and 3 fewer than the Cardinals. The Brewers have outscored them since then (53 runs). The Angels and Red Sox have scored 55 runs to lead the sport. So, you know, remember small sample sizes!
Does any of that help the Giants? Perhaps. It’s just a reminder that the torpedo bats might be overblown. Players still have to make contact. Jazz Chisholm has 21 strikeouts against just 3 walks and is slashing .180/.255/.460. Admittedly, he has 4 home runs at the same time; and, the Yankees lead the sport with 26 team home runs. But again… that Brewers series skews the sample. They’ve hit just 11 since. That’s right — they hit 15 home runs in that 3-game series.
Other helpful factors: Giancarlo Stanton is still out with an injury. Cody Bellinger is hitting hitting .206/.268/.294. Devin Williams, another Brewers talent dump, looks to be on shaky ground in the closer’s role. Aaron Boone is still their manager. None of that seems very helpful in the face of a home run barrage, but the Giants are typically pretty solid about limiting home runs. Will they be able to punch back is the question.
The downside of this matchup seems pretty obvious. Because of all that power in their lineup, it feels like an inning can snowball pretty quickly. Aaron Judge has turned out to be a great investment. Paul Goldschmidt is alive and well and mashing in the early going (.942 OPS). Trent Grisham, who was a salary dump in the Juan Soto trade with the Padres and slashed .191/.298/.353 the past three season, has gotten off to a white hot start. They have a young position player group (Ben Rice, Oswaldo Cabrera, Jasson Dominguez, Anthony Volpe) that’s hit the ground running. You know, they’re the Yankees. They went to the World Series last year. This is a tough matchup.
Series overview
Who: San Francisco Giants at New York Yankees
Where: Yankee Stadium | Bronx, New York
When: Friday (4:05pm PT), Saturday (12:05pm PT), Sunday (10:35am PT)
National broadcasts: Saturday (FS1)
Projected starters
Friday: Robbie Ray (LHP, 2-0, 3.18 ERA) vs. Marcus Stroman (RHP 0-0, 7.27 ERA)
Saturday: Jordan Hicks (RHP, 1-0, 2.38 ERA) vs. Will Warren (RHP, 0-0, 6.00 ERA)
Sunday: Logan Webb (RHP, 1-0, 1.89 ERA) vs. Carlos Rodón (LHP, 1-2, 5.19 ERA)
Where they stand
Giants, 9-3 (2nd in NL West), 57 RS / 39 RA | Last 10: 8-2
Yankees, 7-5 (1st in AL East), 82 RS / 59 RA | Last 10: 5-5
Yankees to watch
Besides Aaron Judge, obviously.
Ben Rice: The 26-year old 1B/DH/C bulked up over the offseason and has increased his batspeed 3.6 mph. He also changed his batting stance. His season line isn’t because of that Brewers series, either. He was 3-for-6 with a homer in that one, but since then: 8-for-30 with a pair of homers, a pair of doubles, a triple, and 6 walks against 10 strikeouts.
Trent Grisham & Paul Goldschmidt & Cody Bellinger: Giants Killers for their careers. Familiarity breeds contempt, right? Them wearing Yankees uniforms now only makes them more contemptible and hitters to fear.
Will Warren: Why not spotlight a pitching prospect who doesn’t have the wow stuff of a Hunter Greene, but the kitchen sink arsenal the types of which we’ve seen befuddle Giants lineups for years and years. He has a severe sweeper, two fastballs (4-seam and sinker), a changeup, and a curveball.
Giants to watch
Wilmer Flores: The Yankees have his number and Yankee Stadium in particular seems to be a kryptonite blanket for the Giants’ best hitter. In 12 career games there, he’s just 8-for-45 with just 1 home run (his only extra base hit), 7 strikeouts and 0 walks.
Mike Yastrzemski: He does not tend to hit his home runs in bunches (though he did last September), but after his walk-off the other day, and given the famous SHORT PORCH at Yankee Stadium, I’d like to see him reverse that trend this weekend. The Giants could sure use some left handed pop.
Logan Webb: He got roughed up pretty famously on Opening Day 2023 at Yankee Stadium (6 IP 4 ER) but did strikeout 12. His start against them at Oracle Park last year didn’t go much better (7 IP 4 ER). He very well could be the starter standing in the way of a Yankee sweep.
Willy Adames: Oh — you thought I was just going to list three Giants? Heck no. Adames is the exact kind of counter-energy that the Giants’ dugout needs to counter a Yankees onslaught. Thanks to his Rays days, he’s amassed a nice bit of history at Yankee Stadium. In 29 career games (114 PA), he’s hit .307/.386/.555 (.941 OPS) with 5 home runs. It’d be nice if he started to get going at the plate as a Giant this weekend…
Matt Chapman: Like Flores, the Yankees have had his number, too. He’s been a .198 hitters against them for his career. Will history repeat or is this the season he punches back? Against a slightly diminished Yankees pitching staff, he might have a shot?
Heliot Ramos: It’s his first time in Yankee Stadium. Last season at Oracle, he homered off of them.
Prediction time