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Two of baseball’s best teams are playing in a massive interleague series this week.
The Yankees are down at Citizens Bank Park, playing the Phillies.
Even better, two of the league’s better starting pitchers — Gerrit Cole and Aaron Nola — will take the mound Tuesday.
However, the defending AL Cy Young champion isn’t pitching like one of the best arms in baseball.
After returning from the IL in late June, Cole has pitched to a 5.40 ERA across seven starts and 35 innings.
He has looked excellent at times (six innings, one earned run, eight strikeouts against the Rays) and broken at others (four innings, six earned runs, zero strikeouts, four walks against the Mets).
His inconsistency can be traced back to his fastball, which has lost two ticks of velocity from two seasons ago (from 97.8 mph on average to 95.8), making it less effective.
On the contrary, Nola is pitching better as the season has progressed.
After a somewhat rocky start, Nola has pitched to a 3.19 ERA and 2.69 expected FIP in his past six outings, striking out 42 batters in 36 innings behind a slight increase in fastball velocity.
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I’d give Philadelphia the starting pitching edge Tuesday in addition to a significant bullpen advantage — they rank second in bullpen fWAR (4.9), while the Yankees rank 23rd (1.1).
Both lineups are talented yet inconsistent. But ultimately, the Phillies should pitch their way to a win, especially in their home park.
THE PLAY: Phillies (-124, FanDuel)