The Yankees awoke from their malaise with an 8-1 rout of the Blue Jays just in time to host the reeling Reds on Tuesday.
Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, the top two contact hitters in baseball, who propelled the Bombers with three RBIs and a home run on Sunday, have a ripe matchup versus Graham Ashcraft.
The third-year Reds righty is one of the majors’ most vulnerable pitchers to batted balls. Ashcraft ranks within the bottom 5 percent in exit velocity, which is up almost 3 mph from 2023.
In fact, a 45.6 percent rate of batted balls on his pitches have reached at least 95 mph.
Ashcraft offers cutters almost 50 percent of the time — a pitch Judge is batting .471 against with three homers.
The only condition is how Luis Gil will rebound from two dud starts that made for 12 earned runs in 5 ²/₃ total innings.
His walk rate crept up in turn, but Gil’s 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings offer enough optimism against a whiff-prone Reds lineup.
Gil and his electric fastball are in a comfortable position to protect his lead in the AL Rookie of the Year market against a Cincinnati club that is starved for batted balls.
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