The Yankees will try to keep the good times rolling north of the border with their second series against the Toronto Blue Jays in less than a two-week span. Despite falling short in a tough back-and-forth extra-innings loss on Sunday, leaving Cleveland without a sweep, the Yankees are aiming to win their sixth consecutive series to start the year. They currently hold MLB’s best record in the very early goings at 12-4.

Since the Yankees last faced the Blue Jays, Toronto has gone 4-2 during their opening homestand against the Mariners and Rockies, winning both series and improving their record to 8-8. Entering play on Sunday, the team had a league-average 99 OPS+ for the year. However, the top three hitters in the batting order George Springer (91 OPS+), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (102 OPS+), and Bo Bichette (95 OPS+), have had underwhelming starts at the plate. Offseason free-agent acquisitions Isiah Kiner-Falefa (139 OPS+) and Justin Turner (204 OPS+), as well as Cavan Biggio (144 OPS+), have stepped up to balance out the production of their all-star caliber hitters.

Monday: Luis Gil vs. Chris Bassitt (7:07 pm ET)

Before Friday’s postponed game, Gil was scheduled to pitch on Saturday. However, the change in schedule altered their plans. Aaron Boone mentioned that Gil was available out of the bullpen against Cleveland but was ultimately not used. So since he wasn’t used, he’ll start against the Blue Jays for the second time in a row.

In the rookie’s last outing, Gil battled through an erratic third inning where he loaded the bases, giving up two earned runs in 4.1 innings in the Yankees’ 8-3 win. Being more efficient will be crucial for Gil in this start, especially with the bullpen stretched thin after playing three games in two days. He has yet to pitch past the fifth inning in either of his two starts. Despite this, the righty has showcased dominant stuff this season, striking out 36.8 percent of hitters. Gil’s combination of a 96-mph fastball and effective secondary slider and changeup has kept hitters off-balance, resulting in an expected batting average of .081. It will be interesting to see if the Blue Jays lineup, having faced him eight days ago, can make adjustments to the inexperienced major-league starter.

The right-handed Bassitt will start for the Blue Jays. The veteran has struggled early, sporting a 5.06 ERA and 1.81 WHIP. His best start was his last one against the Mariners, where he pitched 6.2 innings, allowing one run off a homer and striking out eight. Statcast labels eight pitch types in his arsenal, but his primary pitch is a sinkerballer, which hitters have found more success against this season with a .321 average.

Tuesday: Carlos vs. Yusei Kikuchi (7:07 pm ET)

With a 1.72 ERA and the Yankees winning all three games he has started, Rodón has great results, especially considering the pressure he faced coming in. However, he carries a high 1.47 WHIP, and his strikeout rate is relatively low at 18.8 percent compared to the 33.4-percent whiff rate he had in his dominant 2022 season with the Giants. Despite his strong overall results, his expected Statcast statistics show an expected earned-run average of 4.45 in his first three outings. So even with the strong ERA, we have yet to get the dominant pitcher they signed.

Kikuchi helped spoil the Yankees’ home opener by pitching 5.1 scoreless innings. Since then, he has had another strong outing against Seattle, throwing six innings, giving up one run while striking out nine in the Blue Jays’ win. He has found success so far in forcing groundballs at a rate of 57.8 percent, which ranks in the 88th percentile.

Wednesday: Marcus Stroman vs. Kevin Gausman (3:07 ET)

After two shutout performances to start his Yankees career, Stroman had a shaky start dealing with some tough luck with balls in play, albeit also with a Jake Burger bomb. He gave up four runs, all in the third inning, and the Marlins handed him his first loss to his record in pinstripes. As a pitcher who induces soft contact, outings like the one against the Marlins are to be expected, but he has started the season strong with his ability to induce said soft contact, with both his groundball and hard-hit rates ranking in the 88th percentile.

Gausman is still looking to get back into his form. After imploding against the Yankees, lasting just 1.1 innings and surrendering six runs (one unearned), he had another poor outing against the Rockies. In his last start, he allowed six runs on 10 hits over 3.2 innings. The Toronto ace missed time in spring training with right shoulder fatigue, so his disrupted ramping up schedule could help explain his rocky start to the season.