New York Yankees vs. Washington Nationals: Luis Severino vs. MacKenzie Gore

There are some who hoped that a home series against the Nationals would be just the reprieve the Yankees needed to get back in the win column. Unfortunately, they forgot it’s still the same New York offense taking futile hacks at the plate, as they managed a run on just two hits in the series opener. The task for today: try to avoid the losing streak reaching double-digits for the first time in 110 years.

Luis Severino is hardly the man you want on the mound to avoid the aforementioned distinction, but with the absences of Nestor Cortes and Domingo Germán and with Randy Vásquez optioned to Triple-A, the Yankees have literally no one else for the job. Among all pitchers who have thrown at least 60 innings, Severino is tied with Michael Kopech as the worst pitcher in baseball (-0.9 fWAR). In 15 games (14 starts), Severino is 2-8 with a 7.98 ERA (53 ERA+), 6.82 FIP, and 61 strikeouts in 67.2 innings.

MacKenzie Gore has been a serviceable back-end starter for the Nationals since his trade to Washington in the 2022 Juan Soto deadline blockbuster. He sits in the 70th percentile or better in strikeout and whiff rates thanks to a mid-90s four-seamer, low-80s curveball, and high-80s slider, the latter pair inducing whiff rates in excess of 39 percent each. He is prone to giving up hard contact, sitting in the fifth percentile in barrel rate while yielding over a homer-and-a-half per nine, but the Yankees haven’t exactly shown that they can make pitchers like him pay for those mistakes. In 24 starts, Gore is 6-9 with a 4.38 ERA (96 ERA+), 4.49 FIP, and 141 strikeouts in 123.1 innings.

Aaron Boone promised that Everson Pereira and Oswald Peraza would be regular starters following their call-ups and at least for the time being he’s staying true to his word. Pereira drew a walk in his first big-league AB while Peraza went 0-for-4 — the former bats seventh while the latter bats ninth. Otherwise, the Yankees lineup is a pretty bleak sight — Ben Rortvedt accounted for the Yankees’ only two hits last night but sits tonight in favor of Kyle Higashioka.

The Nationals lineup is far from a world-beater, managing only two runs against the scuffling Carlos Rodón and the bullpen, but given the way the Yankees offense is going that’s enough to win on many nights. Carter Kieboom hit a home run in his first AB since 2021 after missing all of last year and most of this while recovering from Tommy John surgery, however he gets the night off. CJ Abrams also left the yard in the eighth off Tommy Kahnle and he remains in the leadoff spot.

How to watch

Location: Yankee Stadium — Bronx, NY

First pitch: 7:05 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES — NYY / MASN — WSH

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9, WADO 1280

Online stream: MLB.tv (out-of-market only)

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