Disclaimer: I started writing this Wednesday night after we won the wild card round but I never published it, so halfway through it became an ALDS preview. Also, Squarespace changed everything and I have no idea how to add a picture.
I’m lying in bed, absolutely exhausted, but I can’t fall asleep because I’m so happy. The only thing that can make me feel like this are the New York Yankees.
I feel so much love in my heart for this team as a whole but also for each of the players as individuals, which says so much about the group of guys Cashman has put together for us.
Going into Tuesday’s game, some thought we were the underdog. People seemed to think 12 starts against AL and NL central teams (7 of which lost in the Wild Card series) was enough to declare Shane Bieber unhittable. Yes, he has great regular season numbers. Very respectable. But at the end of the day, it was a small sample size where he hadn’t been tested against a lot of the best teams in the league yet. A lot of reporters/broadcasters seemed to be baffled that the Yankees handed Bieber his ass on a platter but because of what I mentioned above, I wasn’t. They’re still the Yankees. This is one of the best lineups probably in Yankee history. They can beat anyone on any day. Depending on which team shows up, which brings me to my next point.
More so than any other Yankee team in recent memory, this team has been streaky and very unpredictable. They kind of remind me of the better Giants teams of the last 15 years when really nothing would surprise you. They might totally blow a winnable game or they might dominate the best team in the league. Who knows? So when someone asked me how I felt about game one, I just said I had no idea. It just depends on which team shows up.
Luckily, the 11 game win streak Yankees decided to show up in Cleveland. (Here is where I finished writing last night). What gives this team an edge, is that they seem to strive in a pressure-filled environment. They like “the stakes”. They want to be put in these important situations. And everyone contributed offensively last week. Stanton and Gary had big home runs. Gleyber broke out. DJ and Luke were DJ and Luke. Gio won the series for us. Aaron was consistent as always and set the tone immediately in game one. So offensively, I feel good.
Pitching wise, it’s not as clear. I feel good about Cole. This is what we paid him for. If he can’t win these games for us, we won’t be winning a World Series. But moving past game one, it’s a little blurry who starts in game two. I still say you go with Tanaka. He was put in a shitty situation in game two last week but still managed to get it together and keep us in the game.
My biggest concern at the moment, and the true “X factor” in this series, is our bullpen. They have not been the bullpen of yore this year. No more D-Rob and Betances, Kahnle is out, Ottovino and Green have struggled. We had a big enough lead in game one that it was a non-issue. But they kept giving up the lead in game two and the boys can only pick them up and make a come back so many times. I’d say Chad Green is possibly one of the biggest factors in this series. He’s our long-term middle reliever and we need him to be lights out. Otherwise, Deivi Garcia might be the next move. I’m sure he’ll get used at some point, so it will be interesting to see how he does. He certainly hasn’t seemed phased by anything thus far.
Another big factor in this series is Aaron Boone. Opinions vary of how large of an influence a manager can have on a game. My opinion is: it’s a lot of influence. His decision to take Voit out in what, the 7th inning last week? almost lost us that game. Sure, maybe if you’re down one against someone like Verlander and it’s going to be your only shot at scoring a run, then you pinch run for him. But it more so felt like he was going to use Wade as a defensive replacement. But IF you want a defensive replacement for Luke, you do that in the ninth inning when you have a lead to close down. As expected, Luke’s spot came back up, so now we lost Luke, Wade, and then Clint Frazier after he pinch hit for Wade (and didn’t look good at the plate). It was just pointlessly wasting players with no hindsight for what needs we might have in late/extra innings. They managed to win anyway, but again, the rest of the team can only lift Boone up so many times before his mistakes end up costing us. (I’m not even getting into his bullpen management because we’re all aware of how bad it has been at times and this blog is already probably too long and I don’t want to stress myself out).
As far as the Rays go, fuck the Rays. The Rays and Kevin Cash especially, seem to have some odd fixation with this Yankees team. From threatening to throw 98 at our guys heads, to then putting that on some shirts and focusing on THAT when they won the division, it’s weird I’m not gonna lie but I’m not going to go into it more because my superstition prevents me from any direct trash talk.
Anyway, it’s going to be a good series. Let’s go Yanks.
