Giants vs Yankees Pick: Former AL CYA Winner Ray Opposes NY’s Stroman (Apr 11)

• Our Giants vs Yankees pick looks at two teams off to hot starts in the 2025 MLB season
• San Francisco is 9-3 and in 2nd place in the NL West
• New York got off to a blazing start but has struggled recently, losing 3 of 4
• Former AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray starts for the Giants against the Yankees’ Marcus Stroman

Giants’ Ray Looks Like He’s Finding His CYA Form

The Giants acquired Robbie Ray from the Mariners, taking a flier on the hard-throwing lefty as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. He pitched well in 7 starts in 2024. Now, fully healthy in 2025, he has started the season at 2-0 over 11.1 innings. He’s given up 7 hits and 4 runs with 6 walks and 6 strikeouts.

The Giants’ veteran bats have been bashing. Wilmer Flores already has 5 home runs. Mike Yastrzemski has a slash of .344/.462/.594 with 2 homers, including a walk-off piece.

Jung Hoo Lee is batting .333 with a .908 OPS.

Free agent signee Willy Adames is hitting .184 with no homers. He does have a great history against Stroman, so this could be a breakout game for him. He has a career .474 BA with 2 homers in 19 at-bats against New York’s diminutive righty.

Yankees Need Stroman To Be Competent

The Yankees tried to trade Marcus Stroman in the offseason. Displeased with his status as an extra starter, he reported late for spring training and said he would not pitch out of the bullpen. The club reinserted him into the starting rotation when Gerrit Cole blew out his elbow and needed TJ surgery.

He has not been good. In 2 starts and 8.2 innings, he has surrendered 8 hits, 7 runs, 4 walks and accrued 6 k’s.

The Yankees will need to get what they can out of him and trust their deep bullpen.

“Torpedo bats” was a widely searched topic on Google after the Yankees’ brutally bashed the Brewers’ pitching on the season’s opening weekend. Several hitters are still bashing. Aaron Judge, in particular, has 6 homers, 20 RBI, and a 255 OPS+. Paul Goldschmidt is hitting .383, Trent Grisham is at .367, and Ben Rice is hitting .306 with 3 homers.

Others, including Jazz Chisholm and Jasson Dominguez, are scuffling at the plate.

Historically, Judge has had his way with Ray, hitting 3 homers in 8 at-bats. The rest of the Yankees’ lineup has limited exposure to the former CYA winner.

Giants vs Yankees Pick: SF Will Eat Stroman Alive

The Giants are hitting too well to let Stroman corral them, especially in the Yankee Stadium bandbox. Ray is still getting his game together in his first full year back after the long TJ surgery rehab, but he’s an experienced veteran who’s pitched at Yankee Stadium before. With the Giants 1.5 run underdogs, they should cover the spread.