Dodgers Yankees Game One Preview

After a series loss in Miami, the Dodgers look to right the ship against the surging Yankees.

The offense forgot to show up again yesterday, and the Dodgers wasted a solid Kenta Maeda effort. The Giants won, so the division lead is down to three.

The Dodgers travelled after the loss to New York to start a three game series against the Yankees. Not only is it the final interleague series of the season, but it’s also the last series against a non-NL West team until the postseason (hopefully).

The Dodgers’ rotation in New York features a lovely glimpse into the future, as two highly touted rookies will start the first two games.

Dodgers Starter

Jose De Leon will make his second career start and his first on the road. De Leon’s final line from his first start wasn’t amazing (six innings, three ER), he did strike out nine and showed quite a bit of promise.

De Leon does have a bit of a dinger problem, which is something that might not play well in New York. Yankee Stadium is known for its short porch in right field, so lefties tend to have a bit more power in New York. It isn’t as big a problem for lefty starters, but with a righty on the hill, expect the Yankees to get as many lefties in the lineup as possible.

Yankees Starter

Bryan Mitchell will be making his second start of the season for the Yankees. Mitchell had appeared in 23 games over the previous two seasons, but only three of those were starts.

In his four career starts, Mitchell has only thrown 15.2 innings. He only really let one of those starts get away from him, his first start last season against the White Sox. He allowed four runs in four innings, but in his other three starts has allowed three runs in 11 innings.

Mitchell leans on a fastball/cutter/curve combo, and rarely breaks out a changeup. He sits 95/96 with the fastball according to Brooks Baseball, but that’s probably lower on average in starts. His curveball is highly regarded, and he appears to be a similar arm as old friend Frankie Montas. Lots of potential as a starter, but should at the very least be a good bullpen arm in the future.

The Yankees are a very interesting case. They were sellers at the deadline with a .500 record, but have gone 24-14 since then. They lost their last game, snapping a seven game win streak. They’re still in fourth in the AL East, but only sit four games back of the Red Sox for first (and four back for the Wild Card).

Dodgers Lineup

With a DH available, Adrian Gonzalez gets a day off from fielding, as Howie Kendrick will play first. Andrew Toles will start in left field with a righty on the mound.

Casey Fien, who was DFA’d on Sunday, was outrighted to AAA-OKC. He remains in the organization, but will have to be added to the 40-man before being called back up.

Next: Who Should Make the Playoff Roster?

For you scoreboard watchers out there, the Giants begin a three game set with the Padres tonight. They’ve won three straight, and there’s a very solid chance they win their next three. So Dodgers should try doing that too IMO.

First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 PST and will be shown on SNLA.