As usual for this blog, a rather pessimistic Yankees playoff preview. It's always exciting when it's playoff time, but it's hard to be optimistic this team. Since June 1 this team is 54-49, and are basically above .500 because of four players.
Juan Soto has been the big difference between this year's team and last year's 82-80 team. He has a good postseason track record too. Giancarlo Stanton's bat always wakes up this time of year, he had a strong September and looks primed to continue in October. Aaron Judge is kind of the opposite of Stanton, he cooled off in September and usually struggles in the postseason. Outside of those three, most of the rest of the lineup would be the bench for other good teams. Once in a while Torres or Wells has a good week, and I still hope Oswaldo Cabrera can go back to his rookie form. Gerrit Cole is the only decent pitcher they have, and he has a tendency to give up a lot of home runs if he's a little off. The #2 starter is the underwhelming Carlos Rodon, and after that it's up to a couple of rookies who have been inconsistent. All of this really doesn't matter though, because playoff games ultimately come down to the bullpen, and the Yankees' has been particularly bad this year. I hate to say it, but I fear the Yankees are going to be eliminated before the Mets this year.
Still I'll be tuning in to each pitch and hoping I am wrong!
I feel that the Royals are the one team in the AL with the starting pitching to shut down the Yankees. I think it's all going to come down to the bullpens.
ReplyDeleteWitt led Royals' hitters in almost everything. So neither team is loaded with depth.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I'd love to see the Royals beat the Yankees in 5... if I was forced to bet, my money would be on the Yankees. Outside of Witt and Perez... the Royals lineup starts looking mediocre at best. It'll be interesting to see if either of these lineups get hot... or it it'll be super low scoring like the Orioles series.
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