The New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals will begin a three-game series on Friday night in Missouri, just a few days after completing a surprising MLB Deadline Day trade. The Yankees are -155 underdogs, trailing Nestor Cortes. The Cardinals, who will face Dakota Hudson, are currently favored at +135. The current Over/Under is 8.5 runs.
Cortes had a shaky stretch of form in June and July after starting the season in such impressive fashion that he was mentioned in the Cy Young discussion. Cortes had a 5.34 ERA and 1.36 WHIP in six starts and 28.2 innings from June 8 to July 8. Cortes, who had a 1.50 ERA and 0.87 WHIP through his first ten starts of the season, was brought back down to earth.
Let’s take a look at the weekend series pitching matchups-
Game 1 – Nestor Cortes vs. Dakota Hudson on Friday (8:15 PM ET)
Game 2 – Domingo Germán vs. Jordan Montgomery on Saturday (7:15 PM ET)
Game 3 – Frankie Montas vs. Adam Wainwright on Sunday (2:15 PM ET)
However, it appears that Cortes has rediscovered his early-season form. In his last three starts, the crafty southpaw has allowed just three runs on 15 hits while posting a 1.50 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. The necessary context is that those three performances came against the Royals, Reds, and Orioles, but even with that easy schedule, Cortes appears to be on the rise.
What do you think, leave a comment below?
