The Yankees have traveled north and will face the Red Sox for the first time this season in Fenway tonight. One of the best rivalries in sports will start all over again. And this year is sure to be a great one. Both teams have high expectations for this season after big additions to their rosters and most experts will tell you that they will be battling all year for the division title. The race for the AL East is going to be a close one and it will only add fuel to the fire that is this rivalry. Many fans will tell you it has gotten boring of late. There hasn’t been the pure hatred between the teams like there was in the past. I’m here to tell you it will be back this year. I’m sure Boston fans haven’t forgotten their last encounter with Aaron Boone in a Yankee uniform (I know I haven’t), and both teams being legit World Series picks always helps.
The Yankees and Red Sox come into this series with very different records, but I think they are in about the same spot. The Sox are sitting at 8-1 and are off to a hot start, but I don’t think they are playing all that well. They have played just well enough to beat up on bad teams in the Rays and Marlins. The Yankees have not been playing to their full potential yet either and are currently 5-5. Strikeouts and a shaky performance by most of the bullpen have hurt the Yanks big time. The bullpen isn’t worth stressing over though, there are a bunch of electric arms out there. They’ll figure it out. The strikeouts are a problem though. The big hitters in the middle of the lineup, Stanton especially, have been trying to do too much. They need to shorten up and focus on making good contact. Guys like Stanton, Sanchez, and Judge don’t have to swing their hardest to do damage. They are strong enough to drive the ball even without their A+ swing. They need to dial it down and focus on putting the ball in play and the homers will come. Overall, I think this series will give us a really good look at what these two teams are actually about this year. Both teams will find their toughest opponent of the season so far in this series and it will be a good measuring stick of how the teams are playing.
We’re in for a real treat too as the early season off days have allowed both teams to line up their rotations. We’ll get started tonight with a battle of the aces, Chris Sale and Luis Severino. Let’s see if Sevy can continue his early dominance against the best lineup he has seen this far. It will also be interesting to see how Sale deals with all the right-handed power in the Yanks lineup. Either way, it’s sure to be an interesting game. First pitch is at 7:05PM in Boston, don’t miss it.