Padres vs Yankees Pick: SD’s Pivetta Hooks Up with NY’s Rodon in the Bronx (May 5)

• In our Padres vs Yankees pick, we look at two contending teams meeting in the Bronx
• San Diego starts Nick Pivetta, one of MLB‘s biggest surprises this season
• New York sends Carlos Rodon to the hill
• The Padres are in a battle for NL West supremacy; the Yankees are in 1st place in the mediocre AL East

Pivetta Leads the NL in Wins

It might be a different Nick Pivetta than the one the Yankees grew accustomed to facing when he spent five years with the hated Red Sox. In his first season with the Padres, Pivetta is leading the NL in wins with 5. He has made 6 starts, thrown 35.1 innings, and given up 21 hits. He has 29 K’s and only 8 walks.

Against Pivetta, Aaron Judge is 5 for 18 with 2 home runs. Oswaldo Cabrera is 1 for 2 with a home run. Paul Goldschmidt is 4 for 11 with a double and a home run.

For the Padres, Luis Arraez has raised his batting average above .300 after a slow start. Fernando Tatis is an early-season MVP candidate with a .973 OPS and 8 home runs. Manny Machado has not been hitting for much power with only 3 homers, but he’s batting .295 with a .360 on-base percentage.

Rodon Has Been an Excellent #2 Behind Fried

When the Yankees lost ace Gerrit Cole to Tommy John surgery, their starting pitching depth was immediately in question. Max Fried has stepped into the breach as the ace. Carlos Rodon neatly slid into the number 2 spot.

Rodon’s first four starts this season were up-and-down. His last three have been excellent, pitching a total of 19 innings, giving up 8 hits, 2 earned runs, and striking out 24.

For the Padres, Xander Bogaerts is 5 for 12 against Rodon. Machado is 5 for 19 with a double and a home run. Jose Iglesias is 5 for 16 with 2 doubles. Arraez is 1 for 8 with a walk.

Aaron Judge’s numbers continue to defy reality. He is now batting .423 with a .510 OBP, a .777 slugging, and a 1.287 OPS+. He has 11 home runs and 55 hits in 34 games.

Still, the Yankees are plodding along at 19-14, fortunate in the AL East being relentlessly mediocre and underachieving. Judge cannot carry the team like this forever, particularly if the rest of the lineup is either not hitting or those who are, like Trent Grisham and Ben Rice, slow down as they inevitably will.

Padres vs Yankees Pick: San Diego Will Down the Bombers

Pivetta has been so good, and the Padres will enjoy the short right field porch at Yankee Stadium. New York looked shaky in losing 2 of 3 to the Rays. The Padres will either win outright or at least keep it within 1 run.