The Yankees play a 3-game series in Cleveland against the Guardians

After just losing two out of three games to the Guardians last week at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees will begin a 3-game series in Cleveland tonight against the team who is in first place in the AL Central. The Guardians are 17–14 at home this season and 20–16 in away games.

The Yankees were supposed to have a three-game series against the Red Sox over the weekend but the middle game was postponed due to rain and was rescheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader on August 29. The Yankees lost the first game of the series 5–3 after Ryan Weathers allowed five earned runs and then they won Sunday’s game 6–1 after Cam Schlittler allowed just one run in 5.2 innings and the Yankees scored five runs in the eighth inning, which included a tie breaking solo homer by Cody Bellinger and a three-run homer by Jazz Chisholm.

Chisholm goes into this series in Cleveland with some momentum. He has hit three homers in his last eight games. In Chisholm’s last 19 games, he has a .309 average, nine extra base hits, 11 RBI and a .918 OPS. He also leads all American League second basemen in homers with eight. This series is away in Cleveland and Chisholm has been better on the road than at home. On the road, Chisholm has four homers, eight doubles, a .256 average and a .729 OPS in 121 at-bats. At Yankee Stadium this season, Chisholm has two doubles, four homers, a .208 average and a .671 OPS. Last season, Chisholm became just the third Yankee to have 30 homers and 30 steals in a season.

The Guardians, who are 37–30, have a two game lead over the surprising White Sox for first place in the AL Central. Cleveland lost two out of three games to the Rangers over the weekend. Since winning seven games in a row from May 16–22, the Guardians have gone just 6–8. The White Sox are three games above .500 at 34–31 after finishing last season 42 games below .500 and 28 games behind the first place Guardians.

The Guardians have lost three of their last four games and they lost 10–0 in the last game they played on Sunday in Texas against the Rangers. In that game in Arlington, which had an attendance of 34,851, lefty starting pitcher Joey Cantillo allowed seven earned runs with three homers and nine hits in 5.0 innings and the Guardians offense went 0–6 with runners in scoring position. Likely future Hall of Famer starting pitcher Jacob deGrom threw six scoreless innings for the Rangers and had six strikeouts. The two Guardians relief pitchers also combined to allow three earned runs with seven hits in three innings.

The Yankees had two steals in their game against the Red Sox on Sunday and the Guardians did not have a stolen base in their 10–0 loss on Sunday. The Yankees are now tied with the Guardians for the most steals in the American League even though the Guardians have played three more games than the Yankees have. The Yankees have hit the most homers in the American League with 93 and the Guardians have hit the 11th most homers in the league with 63.

The Yankees and Guardians could potentially meet in the playoffs. The Yankees have the second best winning percentage in the league (they are tied with the Rays in the AL East but have one fewer win) and the Guardians have the third best winning percentage in the AL. The Tigers were predicted to be in first place in the AL Central but they are now in fourth place in the division with a 27–39 record due to under performance and an abundance of injuries. Tarik Skubal, who has been the best pitcher in the American League the last two seasons, has been on the injured list since the end of April. The Tigers have six other players who are currently on the injured list.

The Yankees have drawn the most walks in the league and the Guardians have drawn the second most walks. The Yankees have the second best OBP in the league and the Guardians have the eighth best OBP in the league. The Guardians have the most doubles in the league and the Yankees are tied for the seventh most doubles. The Yankees have the best OPS in the league (.763) and the Guardians have the second to last OPS in the league (.690).

The best hitter on offense so far for the Guardians this season has been third baseman Jose Ramirez, who leads the team in homers (10), doubles (17), he is tied for the team lead in RBI (33) and he also leads the team and the league in steals with 23. Second baseman Travis Bazanna leads the team with his .444 slugging percentage, .799 OPS and his 124 OPS+ but he has played in just 36 games. The Guardians have nine players who have played in more games than Bazanna, who is a rookie from Australia by way of Oregon State.

Chase DeLauter has 33 RBI and is tied with Ramirez for the team lead. The rookie, who went to James Madison University in Virginia, has seven homers, 11 doubles and a 106 OPS+. DeLauter has gone 3–22 in six games in June and he went 0–9 with three strikeouts in his series against the Yankees last week. He has only drawn one walk in his last 12 games.

Ramirez will likely be in the Hall of Fame after he retires. The third baseman (he also plays second base and shortstop) from the Dominican Republic is in his 14th MLB season and is a seven-time All-Star and a six-time Silver Slugger winner. He is close to having 300 homers and 300 steals as he now has 295 homers and 310 steals. He has led the league in doubles twice and has a total of 415 doubles in his career. He has finished top 10 in MVP voting eight times in the last nine seasons and he has finished in the top five in six of those seasons.

The Yankees have right fielder Aaron Judge, designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton, starting pitcher Max Fried, catcher Austin Wells and outfielder Jasson Dominguez who are currently on the injured list. Judge and Wells have both gone on the injured list in the last five days. Wells is one the injured list with cervical headaches and Judge is on the injured list with a stress fracture of his right rib on the right side. They are both on the injured list for an unknown amount of time. The Yankees are 2–3 without Judge in the lineup. The offense will be worse without Judge but with him out the Yankees will need production from Stanton and Dominguez when they return. Judge’s 17 homers are fourth most in the AL.

Fried, who has an elbow injury, is expected to begin throwing from 120 feet and will also undergo more imaging during the coming week. He has a 3.21 ERA in his 10 starts this season. He has an impressive 2.72 FIP and a 1.005 WHIP this season and has only allowed one homer in 61.2 innings.

Dominguez is on the injured list with a shoulder injury. He began a minor league rehab assignment on Friday. He has gone 0–7 with three strikeouts in his two games at Triple-A Scranton. Both of his games have been against the Mets Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse. He had one homer, two doubles, a .250 OBP and a .617 OPS in his nine games this season with the Yankees. He played at Triple-A from the beginning of the season through April 26 and hit well with five doubles, three homers, a .326 average and a .415 OBP in those 24 games before being promoted to the Yankees at the end of April.

Stanton went on the injured list on April 27 with a low grade right calf strain. He took live batting practice on June 3 where he had weak ground balls to the left side. He took simulated at-bats at Yankee Stadium on Friday before the team’s game against the Red Sox. On Thursday, manager Aaron Boone said that Stanton will not be activated from the injured list during the team’s June 8–14 road trip. Stanton has not done a minor league rehab assignment after previous stints one the injured list. There is a chance he could be activated shortly after June 14.

Ben Rice has been the best player on offense so far this season on the Yankees and he has been one of the best players in the American League. He leads the American League with his 47 runs scored and he leads the team with his 18 homers, 15 doubles, 45 RBI, .299 average, .392 OBP, .640 SLG, 1.032 OPS and his 185 OPS+. Rice has the second best OPS in the AL, he is tied with Bryon Buxton for the third most homers in the AL, he is tied with Nick Kurtz for the third most RBI in the AL, he is tied with Mike Trout for the seventh best OBP in the AL and he is tied with Maikel Garcia for the ninth most doubles in the AL.

Rice has 18 homers in 59 games this season after having 26 homers in 138 games last season, which was his second MLB season. He has improved his OPS from .836 to 1.032 and he has improved his OPS+ from 130 to 185. Rice has not surprisingly cooled off a little in June as he is 4–18 (.222) with a .333 OBP in his five games this month. In his last five games of May, Rice went a scorching 12–22 with four doubles, two triples, one homer and 11 RBI. Rice had a homer in four consecutive games from April 16–19 and he had eight homers and 14 RBI in a 16-game span from April 16 to May 3.