The Yankees and Athletics open a three-game series in the Bronx on Tuesday night, with Cam Schlittler set to face Aaron Civale at 7:05 p.m. ET. New York is bringing a rotation that has carried the club through the first two weeks, while the Athletics arrive trying to steady a 3-6 start.
Schlittler has been one of the surprises for New York. He has allowed no runs and only three total baserunners in his first two starts, then followed that with 6.1 innings and seven strikeouts in a road start against the Mariners last Wednesday. Civale, whom Oakland signed this offseason to start, answered in his Athletics debut by allowing two runs in five innings and beating the Braves.
The series continues Wednesday with Will Warren facing Luis Severino, then wraps Thursday with Ryan Weathers against Jeffrey Springs. Warren has allowed three runs across his first two outings while getting through a combined 10 innings, and Severino has given up six runs in 8.1 innings with eight walks already this season. Weathers has not made it through the fifth inning in either of his first two starts, and he was tagged for three runs and nine baserunners in 3.1 innings against the Marlins last time out.
The backdrop makes the matchup sharper than the records suggest. The Yankees have won each of their first three series and opened with a staff ERA of 1.81, while the Athletics are in last place in the AL West in their second season in West Sacramento. Severino is now in year two of the largest free-agent deal in Athletics history, and Oakland’s rotation questions run through the entire set.
That is the friction in this series: New York keeps giving the ball to young arms that have already outperformed expectation, while the Athletics are still searching for stability from pitchers brought in to provide it. If Schlittler and Warren keep missing barrels and Severino keeps missing spots, the middle game could tell as much about both clubs as the standings do.
