The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels begin a three-game series in Anaheim on Monday night. The good news is that two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani will be in the lineup as DH for the Halos. The bad news is that Ohtani won't be able to take the mound Tuesday against the Yankees because of a sore wrist:
Given that Ohtani has been on a rate basis one of the AL's top starting pitchers this season (a 3.00 ERA in 19 starts and 127 strikeouts in 105 innings this season) and given the Angels' thin rotation, this is to the benefit of the Yankees. As noted, though, Ohtani will still get to take his hacks at the plate. Right now, the AL MVP front-runner leads the AL in slugging percentage with a mark of .623, and his 41 homers lead all of MLB.
The Angels enter this series three games below the .500 mark and effectively out of contention for a postseason berth. For the Yankees, however, the stakes are higher. They're occupying the top wild card position in the AL right now, and they're still within range of the first-place Rays in the AL East.
