New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins: Ryan Weathers vs. Joe Ryan

The Yankees offense will face the best the Twins have to offer in Joe Ryan today, and will do so starting with five left-handed hitters in the first six spots in the batting order, one of them a switch-hitter in Jasson Domínguez. Although this year left-handed hitters have gotten better against him, historically the splits are pretty even versus Ryan. The mission is clear: to try to take this series after the disastrous pitching efforts of yesterday, making Josh Bell look like Frank Thomas in a loss that evened the series.

Opposing Ryan, the Yankees will send Ryan Weathers in what at first glance looks like a disadvantageous matchup, but if we pay attention to the Twins’ batting splits this season, they tell a different story. One of the more productive offenses in baseball against right-handed pitching with a 112 wRC+, despite having Byron Buxton as its star hitter, the Twins have done diddly squat against left-handers; their 89 wRC+ versus southpaws ranks number 23 in all of baseball.

For Weathers, this will represent a fifth straight start against an AL Central, more than happy to be squaring off against anyone other than the Tigers after his worst performance of the season facing Detroit for the second straight time. This will also represent one of the classic battles of immovable object versus unstoppable force, with the Twins’ lousy numbers against left-handed pitching clashing with Weathers’ own splits, a southpaw who has faced far more issues in same-handedness matchups. While righties have a .228 batting average against Weathers this season, left-handers are hitting over .300.

How to watch

Location: Yankee Stadium — Bronx, NY

First pitch: 1:35 pm ET

TV broadcast: NBC Sports Network

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280, TIBN, WCCO 8330, The Wolf 102.9 FM, Audacy APP, LosTwins.com

Online stream: MLB.tv

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