Looking at Brian Wu’s first two starts, there was nothing to criticize.
The young right-hander returned to Seattle after spending his first month in Triple-A and allowed just four hits through 9/3 innings.
Wu has been plagued by injuries dating back to his college days, and he withdrew from his season debut after 62 pitches due to tightness in his pitching forearm.
Last week, he returned to the mound for his first win, but uncertainty remains about his longevity.
His Tuesday assignment in the Bronx represents a pause considering the Yankees have above-average consistency against right-handed pitchers.
The main difference between these division leaders is that the Yankees are getting contributions throughout the order while Seattle can’t get anyone on base.
The Mariners have the seventh-lowest on-base percentage as of this writing, in contrast to the Yankees, who rank second in all of MLB with an on-base percentage of .336.
Seattle is over .500 thanks in large part to its pitching depth and timely hard hitting, while the Yankees remain productive in both departments, ranking first in bullpen ERA and home runs allowed.
Yankees starting pitcher Clark Schmidt has won three consecutive games against the Twins, including a shutout victory with eight innings and eight strikeouts.
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By improving his control of the strike zone, he recorded 9.77 strikeouts per nine innings and was able to limit strong contact.
Seattle has more strikeouts than any team in MLB, so I’m leaning toward a hot veteran over an unproven youngster.
The Play: Yankees -1.5 runs (+125, FanDuel)
