The Pinstriped Baseball Lane

Mother Nature aided the New York Yankees in their first win of 2020 with a rain delay on July 23, 2020. After five full innings of baseball, the start of the sixth inning was halted and called to give the Yanks a 4-1 victory over the Nationals. For a breakdown of game one of the series, visit the following link: https://thepinstripedballclub.travel.blog/2020/07/24/the-new-york-yankees-notch-their-1st-w-of-2020-in-the-nations-capital-2/. Today is game two of a three game set between the Yankees and Washington Nationals. As the Yankees head back to meet the hosting Nationals at Nationals Park, they will be look for their first series victory of 2020.

Here is the information you need to know for today’s game:

New York Yankees @ Washington Nationals, July 25, 2020, Free MLB Picks and Predictions.

New York Yankees (1-0) @ Washington Nationals (0-0)

MLB Baseball: Saturday, July 25,2020 @ 7:15 PM (Nationals Park)

James Paxton (LHP, 0-0, – – -ERA, 0 Ks) vs. Stephen Strasburg (RHP, 0-0, – – -ERA, 0 Ks)

Tonight’s match between the reigning champs and the 27 time World Series champions should be an interesting one. We all know that this year will a sprint to the finish line, rather than the usual marathon, so a series win against the Nationals should give the Yankees some confidence. On the other hand, as the Nats will be hoping that their home field advantage works in their favor, they will look to capitalize on a complete nine inning game.

For these two clubs, the intensity of game two during Opening Weekend is very important. I say that because it will be a true testament to how well they are prepared for an uphill battle that face them ahead.

With that being said, tonight’s pitching duel should speak to that testament. To start the game, we will see a lefty-vs-righty duel on the mound. Manager Aaron Boone will tab left-hander James Paxton with the start tonight against the Nationals. As Paxton is scheduled to start tonight for the Yanks, he is set to begin his second season in a Yankees’ uniform. The Yankees are glad to have the Big Maple ready to go, as he has recovered from lower back surgery that he underwent in February. The Yanks should be extremely glad to have him back in the starting rotation because the big lefty posted some career stats last season. In 2019, the big lefty set career highs in the wins’ column (15) and took the mound 29 times. He posted a K/9.0 IP ratio of 11.11, which surpassed Luis Severino’s 2017 mark of 10.71 for the best in the franchise’s history.

The Nationals’ manager Dave Martinez will hand RHP Stephen Strasburg the baseball to start against Paxton and the Yankees. According to Strasburg, he says that he is, “…feeling strong…”. To that, I say, “We will see about that Mr. Strasburg. Your pal Scherzer couldn’t fully deal with the Yankees’ offensive power, what makes you think you could take them on? Especially one with a raking Stanton, Judge and LeMahieu.”

Strasburg, who turned 32 on Wednesday is coming off a historic 5-0 postseason, which included him helping the Nats win the 2019 World Series. The righty was named the 2019 World Series MVP, but when all is said and done, this will be the fist time he will toe the slab against the Yanks.

In his last appearance, Strasburg pitched 8 1/3 dominant innings in Game 6 of the World Series to help the Nats  stave off elimination and ultimately beat the Houston Astros for their first championship. The key thing there ladies and gentlemen, Washington only has one title, meanwhile the Yankees have experience of earning 27 titles. With a shorten season and the Yankees’ hunger for a championship to add to their collection, I believe Aaron Boone’s squad will take this series.

As Strasburg will take the hill tonight in Nationals Park against the Yankees, he only has the advantage of knowing two hitters. He has squared off against Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu before they were ever wearing Yankee uniforms. LeMahieu, who was held out of the opener after missing time in summer camp recovering from COVID-19, is 6-for-21 off Strasburg while Stanton is 15-for-48 (.313) with three homers and 11 RBI.

Brian Cashman refers to a healthy Yankee squad as a, “…fully operational death star.” I wouldn’t describe it any other way because they were in attack mode in game one of this series and two of their biggest sluggers were contributing (Stanton and Judge).

We saw Stanton drive in three runs Thursday after injuries limited him to 59 at-bats in 18 games last season. Two runs came very early in the game and it was via the homerun. After Hicks grounded out sharply to second baseman Starlin Castro-first baseman Eric Thames, Judge stepped up to the plate and singled sharply to Andrew Stevenson. With Judge on base, Stanton stepped into the batter’s box and launched a 459ft fly ball homer to center field. I take that as a sign, meaning those guys are ready and hopefully they stay healthy. With their steady contribution in 2020, the Yankee squad can go pretty far.

Stanton, Judge and Aaron Hicks would not have been ready for the originally scheduled season opener on March 26 and neither would James Paxton. So I guess in terms of the season getting off to an unorthodox start, the Yankees benefited by gaining the extra time for their players to recover.

Paxton was recovering from a back injury when the sport was shut down but is fully recovered. He made his final appearance in summer camp by throwing 84 pitches in five simulated innings on Monday. The Yankees hope Paxton can continue his dominance from the final two months of last season. He was 15-6 with a 3.82 ERA last season and went 10-0 with a 2.51 ERA in his final 11 starts.

Things To Keep An Eye On Tonight

An interesting thing to keep in mind while watching tonight’s game is, Paxton is also seeing the Nats for the first time. I know I will be keeping an eye on a few things. First off, I will be be watching the lefty-vs-righty duel out on the mound. Second, I want see how LeMahieu and Stanton will stalk up against Strasburg, especially because I know how well both players can do offensively. Also, along with those two hitters, I will be keeping tabs on Judge to see if he can remain consistent in batter’s box.

What will you be looking out for tonight?