AL Wild Card Preview
Okay so the wild card game is tomorrow. Entire season on the line. I’m going to get into my ideal lineup and what I think the keys to the game are but first I’d like to tell a quick little anecdote that my dad told me over the weekend that I enjoyed. It was 2001, I was 11 years old, and my dad came home from work. He walked into the den and I said to him, “Dad, I’ve got it all figured out!” He asked me what I had figured out. I replied, “the Yankees postseason roster!”. I had written it all out on a big yellow notepad and had my rationale for each decision. NBD but my dad said I was spot on in my analysis. Perfect example of how obsessed I was at such a young age. Just thought it was cute that some things never change because here I am still doing it 16 years later (that was 16 years ago? Brb gonna KMS).
Anyway, tomorrow is the biggest game of our season. We’re going into this wild card game being heavy favorites. We’re the better team. That’s a fact. But it’s one game and the reason we play these games is because the better team doesn’t always win. I’m nervous as fuck because this team has INSANE potential, and it would be a serious bummer to not seen even the ALDS in such an exciting year. Especially when we haven’t seen one in five years.
Below are what I think are the keys to tomorrow’s game.
Gary behind the plate: when Gary is bad, letting balls through his legs, dropped third strikes etc., it can REALLY mess things up. I’ve never seen so many runs scored on passed balls and guys get safe at first on dropped third strikes in my life. We CANNOT let stupid unearned runs score tomorrow night.
The Bullpen: this is maybe the most obvious. Our bullpen is the reason we didn’t win the division this year. They’ve been playing much better but you still worry, With a 1 or 2 run lead, I don’t want to see Kahnle or Betances out on that mound. I trust Green, Robertson, and Chapman. Maybe Warren, although he just got off the DL.
Not leaving runners on base: this seemed to be a trend and is another obvious one.
Depending on how Santana is pitching, this team needs to be able to play some small ball. Girardi relies way too much on home runs and in close games, you need to play smart. We need to steal bases (which we’ve been doing fantastically lately) and bunt when needed. Again, this is only if its a 1 or 2 run game.
And here’s the lineup I’d go with.
Gardner LF
Judge RF
Sanchez C
Didi SS
Castro 2B
Bird 1B
Hicks CF
Headley 3B
Ellsbury DH
I think the only players that could be swapped are Holliday/Ells/Frazier/Headley. Ellsbury needs to play. He’s on a hot streak and besides the hitting aspect, he’s our best baserunner. If he gets on base, he can get into scoring position which is huge. Holliday is a great option to pinch hit in the right situation because we know he can hit bombs and is clutch in the playoffs. But the fact of the matter is, he hasn’t played that much this season, and when he did, he was kind of boom or bust. Also look to Torreyes to pinch run late in a close game.
Headley over Frazier seems rather obvious to me. If you started Frazier, then you’d probably have to DH Headley and sit Ells. I get that Frazier is the better fielder, but Headley was our third baseman for three years before he got here. I think we’ll be okay. For a one game playoff like this, you need the best bats in the lineup. It’s not like Headley is Eduardo Nunez or something. That would be a different story.
As for pitching, ideally Sevy gets to the sixth inning and then we’re golden. Then you go Green, Robertson, Chapman. That should still be the game plan even if he gets taken out in the fourth. Girardi has to have him on an incredibly tight leash. Way too many times this season I’ve seen Joe wait too long and we suffer the consequences.
Now let me mention something that irritates me. I’ve seen people say that if we lose it’s okay because we exceeded expectations this year. That is extremely incorrect. Once a team is good, the team is good. They exceeded expectations? Great. That means they set new expectations. My expectations now are that they should win the wild card game tomorrow. Was that my expectation in April? I’m not sure. But it is now. This team is extremely talented. Once that is known, they should be playing up to their potential. So don’t say that shit to me or I’ll probably bitch at you.
Regardless, tomorrow will be exciting and I am not at all nervous I swear. Let’s go Yankees.
