The starter the New York Yankees will face in their opening postseason game of 2024 is now known.
In the American League Division Series, the Yankees will take on the Kansas City Royals. On Saturday, the two teams—Gerrit Cole and Michael Wacha—will square off in Game 1 of the series.
Wacha was supposed to start for the Royals in Game 3 of their Wild Card series. In the three-game series, they defeated the Baltimore Orioles.
In his rookie season with the Royals, Wacha performed admirably. After pitching 166.2 innings, the right-hander finished 13-8 with a 3.35 ERA and 145 strikeouts. Along with Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo, the starter was one of three Royals pitchers ranked in the top 10 in the AL in terms of WAR.
The biggest batters in the Bronx Bombers lineup have seen Wacha before. In his career, Aaron Judge has just 1-18 versus the Royals starter. Alex Verdugo is 3-11 and Gleyber Torres is 1-16. In his 17 at-bats against the righty, Giancarlo Stanton has hit only one long run. After 56 at-bats, Anthony Rizzo’s hitting average against Wacha is.393. Due to finger fractures, it is unclear if the first baseman will be included on the postseason squad.
Although the sample size is lower, Wacha has faced some of the other Yankees batters. Wacha has faced the Yankees in 11 career starts. After pitching 57.2 innings, he has a 2.97 ERA and a 2-1 record. In his final start of the season against the Bronx Bombers in 2023, the righty pitched seven innings of two-run ball. The Yankees and Royals will play Game 1 of the ALDS on Saturday at 6:38 p.m.
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