Yankees and Orioles Ready to kick off season

This is the opening series preview I put together for Baseball Digest.

Yankees-Orioles Series Preview

The much anticipated start of the regular season is here…weather permitting. The Yankees and Baltimore Orioles begin the 2009 campaign on Monday (4/6) with a three game series at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The opener begins at 4:00 EDT followed by an off day on Tuesday. The two teams resume with a 7 pm start on Wednesday and conclude the series with a 1:35 pm start on Thursday.

Probable Pitchers for the series (2008 records in parenthesis):

Monday (4/6): CC Sabathia (17-10, 2.70) vs. Jeremy Guthrie (10-12, 3.63)
Wednesday (4/8): Chien-Ming Wang (8-2, 4.07) vs. Koji Uehara (0-0, 0.00)
Thursday (4/9): A.J. Burnett (18-10, 4.07) vs. Alfredo Simon (0-0, 6.23)

The Orioles have a number of changes to their roster from last season, most notably the starting rotation, with Jeremy Guthrie as the only incumbent. The O’s finally gave up on hard throwing, inconsistent starter Daniel Cabrera and replaced him with 34-yr old Japanese import Koji Uehara (103-50 in 9 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants).

Alfredo Simon is a 27-yr old native of the Dominican Republic that was picked up off the scrap heap last August by the Orioles, making his major league debut shortly thereafter. He made the rotation after allowing just two earned runs in 16 spring innings.

Mark Hendrickson and Adam Eaton comprise the remainder of the Baltimore starting staff.

Prospect to watch out for - The Orioles have one of the top prospects in all of baseball, catcher Matt Wieters. He’s expected to be recalled by mid-season.

Injuries - Greg Zaun has won the Orioles starting catching job, but a sore elbow could keep him out of the lineup. Former Yankee Chad Moeller is the O’s backup catcher. Brian Roberts has been suffering from a strained oblique, but should be ready to go for opening day. Pitcher Rich Hill is out until at least mid-April with a sore elbow, and pitcher John Parrish won’t be back until June after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder.

Closer - George Sherrill is the incumbent closer, but Chris Ray is expected to take over once he’s fully recovered from 2007 Tommy John surgery.

Orioles Projected Lineup

2B Brian Roberts
CF Adam Jones
RF Nick Markakis
1B Aubrey Huff
3B Melvin Mora
DH Luke Scott
C Greg Zaun
SS Caesar Izturis
LF Felix Pie

Yankees Pitchers vs. Orioles

Aside from the fact it’s opening day, CC Sabathia has to be looking forward to Monday’s assignment. The big left-hander has thoroughly dominated the Orioles, posting a 5-0, 2.38 mark in 9 career starts.

A.J. Burnett has won seven of eight decisions against Baltimore, though he was hammered in two of three starts against them last year. Though Chien-Ming Wang owns a 3-1 record, and recorded his only career save against the Orioles, he’s not been at his best (5.13 ERA in eight starts and one relief appearance) when facing this division opponent.

Yankees Batters vs. Orioles

Derek Jeter hit just .159 against the O’s last season, but is a career .305 hitter with 21 home runs and 103 RBI in 202 games. He’s 5-18 (.278) vs. Guthrie.

Johnny Damon destroyed Orioles pitching last season, putting up splits of .368/.435/.605 with 5 home runs and 18 RBI in 18 games. He’s hitting .333 (6-18) vs. Guthrie with one home run.

Mark Teixeira only got to face the Orioles three times after his trade from Atlanta to Los Angeles (AL), but hit .400 with an RBI, 5 runs scored, and 3 walks. The Maryland native routinely destroys his home state team - .313-12-35 in 38 games. He walked in his lone plate appearance against Guthrie.

Hideki Matsui hit .313 against the O’s last season and has put up tremendous numbers (.305-12-56) in 91 career games. He’s 2-6 against Guthrie with one home run.

Jorge Posada only had five at-bats against Baltimore last season before landing on the DL, but he has 20 home runs and 76 RBI in 144 career games against the Orioles. He’s 2-8 vs. Guthrie with one RBI.

Xavier Nady has played primarily in the National League, but he loves Baltimore pitching. Last season he hit 3 home runs, drove in 8 runs, and laced 3 doubles in 11 games. He’s 2-5 against Guthrie with a solo home run.

Robinson Cano hit just .260 against Baltimore last season, but drove in 10 runs in 18 games. He’s a lifetime .288 hitter against the O’s with 8 home runs and 35 RBI in 63 games. He’s just 1-17 (.059) against Guthrie.

Cody Ransom was 1-4 against the O’s last year with the one hit being a 3-run home run.

Brett Gardner was 1-4 in his rookie season with one stolen base.