The Yankees‘ matchup against Cole Irvin last Wednesday was an interesting one. He has been a good pitcher for the better part of two seasons now and I was intrigued to see how he would approach attacking the middle of the Yankees’ lineup. During the bottom of the first three innings, he was insistent on pounding his low-90s fastball against Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. To no surprise, the tactic didn’t work against Judge. On the fourth consecutive fastball in Judge’s first at-bat, he barreled a home run with a very easy-looking swing.
Later on in the third inning, Irvin took the same approach against Stanton.