New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles 5/15/21 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The New York Yankees will play game two of a three-game set on the road at Camden Yards to take on the Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees started the season slow, but have won nine of their last twelve games and moved into third place in the AL East, just two games back of the Red Sox. The Orioles are in the bottom of the AL East after losing five of their last six games, falling 6 games back of the AL East lead. 

New York was able to win the first game of this series behind a 7th inning 3-run homerun from Gio Urshela, improving to 21-17, and was a nice bounceback following a loss to the Rays. The Orioles dropped their third straight game, falling to 16-22, and continued their fall down the AL East standings.

New York has left a lot to be desired at the plate this season hitting .220 as a team and have managed to score just 3.86 runs per game, ranking 24th in the MLB in scoring offense. They have seemed to look better as the season has progressed, but they’re still relying on their pitching to get wins and would like to see an improvement at the plate with their highly touted lineup.

The reemergence of Giancarlo Stanton as a big-bat in the lineup has been a nice boost after struggling in his first couple of seasons in New York. Stanton is questionable for this game and missed the series opener against the Orioles but is hitting .282 with a team-high 9 homeruns and 24 RBIs. The injury bug has bit the Yankees this season as Gio Urshela, the team leader in batting average is also questionable, hitting .292 with 16 RBIs. 

Domingo German will get the ball for the Yankees, he’s had a solid start to the year outside of a rough first outing, going 2-2 with a 4.02 ERA in his first six starts of the year. German has struck out 31 batters in 31 innings of work and is coming off a solid couple of starts including his last one when he pitched a strong 6 ⅓ innings, allowing 5 hits and 2 runs in a Yankees win.

Baltimore has been a below-average offensive unit hitting .228 and scoring 3.73 runs per game, ranking 19th and 25th in the MLB respectively. There isn’t a lot of star power in the Orioles lineup and they were expected to be the worst team in the MLB coming into the season; given a 0% chance to make the playoffs by FanGraphs. 

Trey Mancini is off to a strong start this season despite hitting .252 is leading the Orioles with 7 homeruns and has driven in 29 runs, which is tied for sixth in the MLB. Centerfielder Cedric Mullins is hitting .308, which is 16th in the MLB, and has hit 6 homeruns and driven in 12 runs. Outside of those two, it’s been a struggle for nearly everyone else in the lineup with a ton of starters hitting under .200.

Jorge Lopez will hope to build off of a solid outing against the Red Sox when he gets his 8th start of the year. Lopez is 1-3 with a 5.63 ERA on the year but pitched 5 ⅔ innings allowing a run on 4 hits while striking out 5 and didn’t issue a walk and got the win. Lopez has a career 5.98 ERA, and has frequently bounced between the MLB and minors in the last 6 years.