Houston Astros: Preview of Opening Series in New York

Opening Day is almost here, Houston Astros fans!

Monday, April 4^th, at specifically 12:05 pm CST cannot get here soon enough if you are a Houston Astros fan. Most of us have brackets that have long since busted, are overdone with talking about the NFL Draft possibilities, and are tired of seeing exhibition baseball box scores with many names you don’t know, and even the Google search results are a toss-up.

The Astros open the 2016 season in New York to take on the Yankees. It seems like yesterday that Dallas Keuchel was flat-out dominating Yankee hitters in the AL Wild Card game, and that is likely fresh in the minds of the players.  Both teams have made significant moves over the offseason, specifically acquiring closers. New York signed Aroldis Chapman, who will be serving a 30-day suspension thus inactive for this series, and Houston traded for Ken “One-Hundred Mile” Giles.

The Yankees also traded for Starlin Castro with the Cubs, giving them youth in the middle infield between him and Didi Gregorious. Other than those two players, the Yankees are still true to form in having a lineup consisting of under contract, veteran players. Jacoby Ellsbury, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran, and Brian McCann are the usual suspects to face opposing pitchers.

Ricky Keeler of Yanks Goes Yard (Fansided) joined Talking Stros to talk series preview.

The Yankees starting pitching is actually a relatively young staff, minus CC Sabathia, if he even makes the rotation. Their bullpen, on paper, is one of strongest in baseball. To the Astros advantage, Chapman will be serving his suspension, and Andrew Miller, New York’s interim closer, took a line drive off his right wrist in his most recent game against the Braves. This will be a huge blow to the Yankee bullpen if Miller has to miss any amount of time, although he has stated he wants to play through it in order to be available for opening day.  Next in line is hard-throwing Dellin Betances.

The Astros lineup will consist of mostly the same players that faced New York last year, with the exception of possibly Tyler White at first base in replacement of Chris Carter. Many of the Houston hitters are very young, and have had another off-season and spring training to improve their craft, and this team is picked by many to win the AL West and recently picked to win the World Series by Sports Illustrated.

The Astros have released their three starting pitchers in order of Keuchel, Collin McHugh, and Mike Fiers. New York has not released theirs yet, but we can see almost certainly pencil in Masahiro Tanaka as the opening day starter, and then a mix of Michael Pineda, Luis Severino, and Nathan Eovaldi.  So let’s take a look at the possible pitching matchups coming up.

Next: GAME 1 – Dallas Keuchel vs Masahiro Tanaka

GAME 2 – Collin McHugh vs. Michael Pineda

Collin McHugh holds Yankees hitters to an even lower combined batting average of .143.  Last year’s 19 game winner for Houston looks to build off an incredible second half of the season. Last season, pre-All Star break, McHugh was 9-5 with a 4.50 ERA, after the All-Star break he caught fire, going 10-2 with a 3.11 ERA. If McHugh’s breaking ball is on, and can throw it for strikes, he can make quick work of the best lineups in baseball. McHugh started two games against New York last year, earning wins in both and giving up only 3 earned runs in 14.1 innings.

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• Astros prospect Hunter Brown throws 6 shutout innings in debut
• Always faithful Astros World Series champion Josh Reddick defends the title
• Michael Conforto declines Astros’ 2-year, $30 million offer

Michael Pineda is a 27-year-old pitcher out of the Dominican Republic. He has shown some electric talent, but thus far has also proved to be very inconsistent, which is common among young pitchers. Pineda was the polar opposite to McHugh as he did well in the first half of the season with a 3.64 ERA, and a poor 5.80 ERA after the break. This spring he has been untouchable, so if the trend continues, we could be in for a pitcher’s duel for game two.

Next: GAME 3 – Mike Fiers vs Luis Severino/TBA

GAME 3 – Mike Fiers vs Luis Severino/TBA

More from Climbing Tal's Hill

• Just how much better is the Houston Astros playoff rotation than the rest?
• Houston Astros: A Lineup Change to Spark Offense
• Astros prospect Hunter Brown throws 6 shutout innings in debut
• Always faithful Astros World Series champion Josh Reddick defends the title
• Michael Conforto declines Astros’ 2-year, $30 million offer

Mike Fiers did very well for the Astros after Houston traded for him and Carlos Gomez. Fiers’ first outing was out of the bullpen, and it was a rough one, but he regained his composure the rest of the way and even threw a no-hitter against the Dodgers lineup. It is a good sign for him that he is the number three starter, at the beginning of spring, he was talked about as being in competition for the last rotation spot. Lance McCullers will jump him in the rotation when he returns from injury, but this will be a nice spot for Fiers to see what he can do in New York for the opening series.

Nathan Eovaldi enters his second season as a Yankee. Last year he compiled a fantastic record of 14-3, but his ERA/WHIP was 4.20/1.45. He definitely benefitted from run support, but will need to pitch more effectively if he is to maintain his winning percentage. Eovaldi did fare much better at Yankee Stadium where his ERA was 3.22. He did start off the spring with a groin injury, but has recovered and pitched well over a few outings. Last year, Eovaldi struck out 13 Astros in 14 innings pitched. Carlos Gomez and Carlos Correa have been two Astros to fare well versus Eovaldi, both hitting over .300 against him.

Next: KEY TO THE SERIES

KEY TO THE SERIES

The big key for any team playing the Yankees this year will be to get ahead of them early, and not play from behind. When New York is at full strength in their bullpen, Betances-Miller-Chapman is arguably the best 7-8-9 inning combination in baseball. Not having Chapman will help the Astros’ causes, but even just Betances and Miller will be tough.

Next: Houston Astros Acquire Catcher Erik Kratz for Dan Straily

Expect Houston to play just as aggressively as last season offensively, and Keuchel, McHugh, and Fiers to continue where they left off. It will definitely be fun to see what White can do in his first major league action, in Yankee Stadium, and also to watch the young Eovaldi pitch. This writer’s prediction is that the Astros take the first two games, but Eovaldi deals in game three for a Yankees victory.

**Stats courtesy of MLB.com**