New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone doesn’t seem too sure of what it’ll take to get his team ready for a hot start to the postseason. But he’s got his baseball cartography kit out and his fingers crossed as the Bombers prepare for their World Series run.
“At the end of the day, it’s baseball and a five-game series,” Boone said of his team’s upcoming ALDS appearance, per New York Post reporter Greg Joyce. “Sometimes you come out firing, not necessarily because of what you did that week. But that said, we’ll try to map it out and make sure our guys are in the best possible position from a pitching standpoint [and] from a position player standpoint.”
If Boone is unsure what to expect from his team, he’s justified. Despite having the best record in the AL, the Yankees have conspicuous question marks all over their roster — especially in their starting rotation and lineup.
The only starting pitcher that inspires confidence in fans at this point is Gerrit Cole. After him, things get dicey.
With a chance to help the Yankees clinch their division in his last start of the year, Marcus Stroman melted down, surrendering six runs in 3.1 innings. Luis Gil gave up 10 runs in his last two starts, and Clarke Schmidt allowed seven runs in 9.1 innings over his final two starts of the year.
Carlos Rodon has been okay, letting in just two earned runs or fewer in each of his past five starts. However, he has some major red flags in his splits. When the Yankees score 0-2 runs for him, he’s posted an 8.01 ERA. That’s a terrible sign going into the playoffs, where runs come at a premium. Additionally, Rodon has an egregious — albeit sparse — postseason record, with a 13.50 ERA in two games (one start).
At the plate, New York can count on Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. The other seven slots in their lineup are shaky at best.
The streaky Giancarlo Stanton could go off, but there’s no guarantee. Jazz Chisholm Jr. has played well since coming to New York, but he slashed just .233/.300/.344 in his last 24 games. Also, while Gleyber Torres got hot to end the year (.333/.387/.472 in September/October), he’s likely due to a regression to the mean.
Every other likely starter is hitting below .250 and slugging under .400. Even Austin Wells, who emerged as the Bombers’ cleanup hitter, fell back down to earth, hitting .111/.217/.194 in the final month of the season.
Still, while they’re riddled with reasons to fail, the Yankees are positioned for success. They’ll face a Wild Card team to start and enjoy home-field advantage throughout their AL pennant chase. Also, there’s no clear favorite to win it all this year, as even the MLB-best Los Angeles Dodgers couldn’t reach 100 wins.
So, with a little luck, the Yankees could get come out firing this Saturday. If they do, they just might find their way to a 28th title this year.
