Discover the Game Location for Guardians vs Yankees – Thursday, August 22, 2024

Cleveland Guardians

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New York Yankees

As the New York Yankees host the Cleveland Guardians on August 22, 2024, both teams are in a tight race for playoff positioning. The Yankees currently sit at 74-53, while the Guardians are just a game behind with a 73-53 record. Both teams are having strong seasons, making this matchup significant as they vie for a Wild Card spot.

In their previous game on August 21, the Yankees dominated the Guardians, winning 8-1. This victory showcased the Yankees’ powerful offense, which ranks 1st in MLB, particularly in home runs, where they sit at 2nd overall. Aaron Judge continues to be a force, accumulating 47 home runs and a 1.187 OPS this season. Over the last week, he has been even more impressive, recording 7 RBIs and 4 home runs in just 5 games.

On the mound, the Yankees are projected to start Gerrit Cole, who has been solid this year with a 4-2 record and a 4.15 ERA. Cole’s last outing was particularly noteworthy; he pitched 6 innings without allowing any earned runs, striking out 8 batters. He faces a Guardians lineup that ranks 5th least in strikeouts, which may favor Cole’s high-strikeout ability.

Opposing him will be Gavin Williams, who has struggled with a 2-5 record and a 5.02 ERA. Williams was hit hard in his last start, giving up 5 earned runs in just 4 innings. His projections indicate he may allow more earned runs than Cole, which could be a significant factor in this matchup.

The projections favor the Yankees, who are expected to score around 4.92 runs, while the Guardians are projected for just 4.00 runs. With a high implied team total of 4.60 runs for the Yankees, they enter this game as substantial favorites, looking to build on their recent dominance over the Guardians.

Cleveland Guardians Insights

• Gavin Williams – Over/Under 14.5 Pitching Outs (-195/+150)
  Gavin Williams has been given less leash than the average pitcher this year, throwing 6.6 fewer adjusted pitches-per-game than the average starting pitcher.
  Explain: Pitchers with a shorter leash are more likely to get pulled earlier in games and record fewer outs.
• Will Brennan – Over/Under 1.5 Total Bases (+145/-185)
  Will Brennan has been cold in recent games, with his seasonal exit velocity of 87.2-mph dropping to 80.3-mph over the last 7 days.
  Explain: Hitting the ball hard increases the chances of either a home run or the ball landing in fair territory for a hit before a fielder can get to it.
• The 5.9% Barrel% of the Cleveland Guardians ranks them as the #29 group of hitters in MLB this year by this standard.
  Explain: Barrel% measures how often a player hits the ball at the optimal exit velocity and launch angle and is a terrific measure of underlying power.

New York Yankees Insights

• Gerrit Cole – Over/Under 6.5 Strikeouts (+130/-170)
  Gerrit Cole’s higher usage percentage of his secondary pitches this season (53.6% vs. 47% last year) should work in his favor considering they are typically much more effective than fastballs.
  Explain: A pitcher who limits has fastball usage will instead heavily use change-ups, curveballs, sliders, etc. These are far more effective pitches at preventing runs and generating strikeouts.
• Austin Wells – Over/Under 0.5 Total Bases (-180/+135)
  Austin Wells is an extreme flyball hitter and faces the strong outfield defense of Cleveland (#2-best on the slate today).
  Explain: This player’s skill set matches up poorly with the opposing team’s defensive strength, which may lead to worse-than-usual performance.
• Gleyber Torres – Over/Under 1.5 Total Bases (+155/-200)
  Gleyber Torres has a 90th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (36.4%) and will have a big advantage hitting them towards the game’s 7th-shallowest RF fences in today’s game.
  Explain: This player’s skill set matches up particularly well with the park he’s in today, which may lead to better-than-usual performance.

Betting Trends

• Over/Under 8.0 Game Total (-110/-110)
  The New York Yankees have hit the Game Total Over in 47 of their last 73 games (+19.95 Units / 25% ROI)
• Cleveland Guardians – Over/Under 3.5 Team Total (+105/-135)
  The Cleveland Guardians have hit the Team Total Under in 25 of their last 38 away games (+10.05 Units / 23% ROI)
• Austin Wells – Over/Under 0.5 Hits (-175/+135)
  Austin Wells has hit the Hits Over in 18 of his last 20 games (+13.45 Units / 34% ROI)