The Yankees lost back-to-back series against the Red Sox and Orioles due to inconsistencies in their starting pitching and a pattern of fielding miscues.
It’s a tough stretch in the schedule for the Bombers, who now face a heady Braves lineup that challenges their own on-base competencies.
Marcell Ozuna is simply crushing the baseball, residing in the top-one percentile in quality of contact while having boosted his average exit velocity from last year up 1 mph to 92.8.
That’s translated to 20 home runs and 63 RBIs for the veteran left-fielder.
Marcus Stroman’s pitch arsenal heavily features a sinker and cutter in order to elicit ground balls.
That hasn’t been the case for Ozuna when offered those pitches.
According to FanGraphs, Ozuna has hit .353 against sinkers — an average that includes seven doubles — and .333 against cutters this season.
Furthermore, six of Ozuna’s home runs have come off of right-handed pitching on the road.
Stroman is reeling from an abysmal showing against the Red Sox last week.
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It was the second time that four earned runs got away from him in five innings or less in his last three starts.
I’m looking for another couple of bases out of Ozuna against Stroman, whose ERA is almost doubled at home (4.12) in contrast to on the road (2.18).
The play: Marcell Ozuna Over 1.5 total bases.