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Dodgers Vs. Yankees Game Preview: Yoshinobu Yamamoto Gets First Start In Bronx

Scott Geirman
4 Min Read
Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Wrapping up their East Coast road trip, the Los Angeles Dodgers begin a matchup with the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium for a highly anticipated three-game set.

It’s the first time the Dodgers make their way to Yankee Stadium since the 2016 season, when the Dodgers won two-of-three from the Yankees. Both teams are leading their respective divisions at this point of the year, and it’s a possible postseason collision course preview.

The Dodgers enter play with a 39-25 record in the National League West, carrying an eight game division cushion over the second place San Diego Padres. In their last 15 games, however, they’re 7-8, but because of weak play with the other clubs, they’ve increased their division lead.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes the mound for the Dodgers for his 13th start of the year, making his first start against the Yankees and perhaps his most difficult task to date.

Yamamoto carries a 3.32 ERA, 2.69 FIP, and a 1.12 WHIP. His FIP slots in as the seventh-best among Major League starters, and his strikeouts per nine is 12th in the league.

Since May 1, Yamamoto is 4-1 with a 3.16 ERA, 2.73 FIP and a .243 batting average allowed.

He faces a tough Yankees lineup that is likely to be without left-handed slugger Juan Soto, who left Thursday’s game with forearm discomfort. Yamamoto will still have to navigate around Aaron Judge and his enormous wealth of power that has immediately place himself in the American League MVP race.

The Yankees send Cody Poteet to the mound against the Dodgers, making his third start of the regular season. He enters the day with a 2.45 ERA, 3.96 FIP, and a 0.91 WHIP.

Poteet is coming off a solid start against the San Francisco Giants, when he allowed two earned runs over five innings. The right-hander tallied six strikeouts, using a heavy mix of sinkers, four-seam fastballs, changeups and a light usage of the sweeper.

His usage has been diverse, but data is still limited in just two previous outings. But Poteet hasn’t garnered much whiff, and didn’t get much chase in his pair of outings.

The Dodgers’ offense broke out of their mini slump over the last few days, battling against Pirates arms to flash a bit of their top-end potential.

Dodgers lineup

SS: Mookie Betts
DH: Shohehi Ohtani
1B: Freddie Freeman
C: Will Smith
LF: Teoscar Hernández
RF: Jason Heyward
CF: Andy Pages
2B: Gavin Lux
3B: Kiké Hernández

Yankees lineup

SS: Anthony Volpe
LF: Alex Verdugo
RF: Aaron Judge
DH: Giancarlo Stanton
1B: Anthony Rizzo
2B: Gleyber Torres
3B: DJ Lemahieu
CF: Trent Grisham
C: José Trevino

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Scott Geirman is a journalist from Simi Valley, California, currently working as a staff writer for Dodger Blue and Angels Nation. After working as the Sports Editor for the Moorpark College newspaper, he graduated from Cal State University, Northridge with a Bachelor's Degree in broadcast journalism with an emphasis in political science. Scott has a passion for reading, writing, baseball, family, Mookie Betts, and being a father to his beautiful daughter. He is currently pursuing his career in the sports media industry.