New York Yankees @ Houston Astros: Luis Gil vs. Spencer Arrighetti

It’s been a good week. The Yankees swept Boston and likely played a non-insignificant role in that org’s excising the majority of its MLB coaching staff (including skipper Alex Cora), and then New York came down to Houston and have taken the first two games against their hated Astros. Last night’s win was driven by the club’s patience, as Houston hurlers allowed ten walks in nine innings, spotting the Yankees a ton of traffic. The Yanks have won eight games in a row and seek their first nine-game winning streak since 2022.

This may be a key to the game today, as Astros’ starter Spencer Arrighetti has had walk problems in his first two MLB seasons, and has walked 15 percent (!) of the batters he’s faced across his first two starts. He’s benefitted from some sequencing and some luck, as he hasn’t allowed a home run in 11 innings, and just three runs overall. However, he’s faced Cleveland and Colorado, not exactly offenses known for hitting the ball out of the park. Nobody in baseball walks more than the Yankees do, and only the Dodgers have hit more home runs. Arrighetti might just look like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs today.

Meanwhile, the Yankees send Luis Gil to the bump, his fourth start in 2026 and he hasn’t exactly impressed with his results. He’s issuing virtually a walk for every strikeout, and has just a .143 BABIP against so far this year. He increasingly looks like a player that shouldn’t be in an MLB rotation, and we could see some very real fireworks today with these two pitchers squaring off — then again, just saying that makes a 2-1 nailbiter all the more likely.