Yankees vs – Fresh off a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Guardians without Aaron Judge, the New York Yankees open a two-lineup battle series in Toronto starting Friday night. The preview lays out the likely Friday, Saturday, and Sunday pitching matchups, with Trey Yesava
For the Yankees, the week already had a built-in challenge: playing a “decently big test” against the Cleveland Guardians without Aaron Judge. They answered it in the only way that matters in this sport—by winning.
Capped by a big win on Wednesday, New York swept all three games against Cleveland. Now comes another trip, this one across the border, with the Yankees starting tonight against the Toronto Blue Jays in their first trip north of the season.
Toronto may not be currently in the AL East race and is even below .500. but the Jays still carry real punch and real history against New York. They’ve knocked the Bombers out in the ALDS last year. and even when their recent results have lagged—going 4-7 over their last 11—they’re the kind of team that can swing a season’s momentum without warning. Whether New York can keep that playoff edge sharp is what makes this series feel bigger than the standings.
Before first pitch later tonight, here’s how the pitching matchups are expected to line up over the next couple days.
Friday: Ryan Weathers vs. TBD (7:37 pm ET)
Ryan Weathers is the opener, and the storyline around him has shifted. After a decent hot run in May and early June, his results have tilted the other way. Over his last four starts, his ERA has gone from 3.00 to 3.86.
In that stretch, he’s had a recent bright spot—seven scoreless against the Rays during that run—but the concern is the inconsistency that followed. One of the most iffy performances came against the Blue Jays on May 18. Toronto knocked him out after five runs and 5.1 innings.
As for Toronto’s side, the Blue Jays have not officially announced their rotation for this weekend’s series as of the time of writing. Still, the expectation is that they’ll use regular starters on regular rest, making Friday likely for Trey Yesavage.
That could be tough for the Yankees. They still haven’t figured out the Toronto youngster, even though his recent outings look uneven overall. The problem for New York is that none of it shows in the particular game they’d rather forget: Yesavage shut out the Yankees for six innings on May 20.
Saturday: Cam Schlittler vs. TBD (3:07 pm ET)
Saturday’s matchup goes the other way for New York: Cam Schlittler is back on the mound after a bounce-back outing. Following a couple starts with some iffy signs, he fully corrected course against the Red Sox last weekend. Schlittler gave up just one run on four in 5.2 innings, helping the Yankees down Boston.
Nothing is confirmed for Toronto yet for this game either. But the most likely choice is Kevin Gausman.
New York missed Gausman in their two teams’ earlier meeting this season. Last season. the Yankees did see him in their initial meeting and got to him. but the next three games belonged to Toronto—Gausman got the better of New York again. That included an ALDS game in which he held the Yankees to one run in 5.2 innings.
Sunday: Will Warren vs. TBD (1:37 pm ET)
The final game is expected to feature Will Warren for New York. Warren has his foibles, but overall he’s still been pretty impressive this season. He has allowed more than three runs in a start just once, and that was over a month ago.
The Yankees have already seen enough of him to know what he can do. In the first meeting between these teams, Warren picked up a victory over the Jays while holding Toronto to three runs in five innings.
On Toronto’s side, the most likely starter for the finale is Patrick Corbin. Corbin has gone through a long stretch of being the worst starter in baseball, but this season he has somewhat bounced back—at least on paper.
The problem is that the improvement has faded. Corbin had a 3.60 ERA through May 6, but he has a 5.60 ERA since. Against the Yankees during that stretch, he was okay but not great, and New York probably should have done better than they did.
Between the Yankees’ clean sweep in Cleveland and the rough edges on the Blue Jays’ recent form. this weekend starts to feel like a test of two things at once: can New York keep momentum without Aaron Judge. and can Toronto’s pitching—especially in the matchups around Trey Yesavage. Kevin Gausman. and Patrick Corbin—flip the script before the playoff picture gets any clearer.
No matter how Toronto’s standings look right now, the Yankees are stepping into a series with history already written into it.
Yankees vs Blue Jays Aaron Judge series preview Ryan Weathers Trey Yesavage Cam Schlittler Kevin Gausman Will Warren Patrick Corbin MLB playoffs
Judge not playing and they still win?? baseball is rigged lol
So they’re “testing” without Judge but it says Yankees swept Cleveland? I’m confused like what’s the problem then. Also Toronto below .500 still scares them… okay
Trey Yesava?? I thought that was a basketball player. Anyway if the Jays knocked the Yankees out last year then it’s probably a repeat. I don’t even care about ERA swings, it’s the vibes
Every time I see “trip north of the season” I think they’re going somewhere cold like Boston, so I guess the pitching gets weird? Also “TBD” matchups like come on, how is anyone supposed to bet on that. I swear Toronto always turns into a different team when New York comes to town.