The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels start a three game series at Yankees Stadium on Friday, April 25, 2014. It will be the first meeting between both teams this season. Coming into the season, expectations were low for both teams, but after 20 games, the Yankees are 12-8, and on top of the AL East, while the Angels are 10-10, three games behind the division leading Oakland Athletics.
Pitching Matchup
The Yankees will send Hiroki Kuroda to the mound, while the Angels will counter with C.J. Wilson.
Kuroda had a resurgent season last year at age 38, and was in the Cy Young Award race for most of the season. He is currently 2-1 in four starts this season, with both wins coming at home. He has thrown 16 strikeouts, walked 6 batters, and has a 4.07 ERA.
C.J. Wilson also had one of his best years as a pro last season when he won 17 games, and finished the season with a 3.39 ERA. So far this season, he is 2-2 after four starts, and has thrown 28 strikeouts, walked 9 batters, and has a 4.21 ERA.
The Yankees lost Robinson Cano, who was their best player last season to the Seattle Mariners in free agency, but they made up for his production by signing veterans like Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, and Jacoby Ellsbury. They also boosted their rotation by signing Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. These signings are already paying dividends because Beltran is leading the team with 5 homeruns and 13 RBIs, Ellsbury is leading in hits and batting average, while Tanaka leads the pitching staff in wins, strikeouts, and ERA. The only weakness the Yankees have shown so far is their bullpen, which is still adjusting to the retirement of closer Mariano Rivera, once they have some consistency in their bullpen, they will be even more dangerous than they are now.
The Angels are also trying to get back in World Series contention; they signed Albert Pujols, and Josh Hamilton to provide them with some big bats, and pitchers like C.J. Wilson to boost their rotation. Due to injuries to key players the past two years, they have been unable to make the playoffs, but so far this season, their key players like Pujols, who is leading the majors with 8 homeruns, are healthy, and producing the way they were expected to when they were signed. If the team can stay relatively healthy the rest of the season, they have a very good chance of making it back into the playoffs.
Game Line: The line for this game is not yet available.
Personal Pick: The pitching is evenly matched, but the Yankees have the hotter bats right now, so I will go with the Yankees to win this game.
I know it is still early in the season and there are still a lot of games to be played, but I think the Yankees will do everything they can to get to the playoffs, so team captain Derek Jeter can have one more opportunity to win his 6th World Series Championship. The Angels realize their window of opportunity to make a postseason run with their current roster is closing because of their aging stars; they too will be in playoff contention late in the season.