First of all, loved the Gleyber Torres move to rock the baby on the final out. The Guardians deserved that. Further retribution awaits Naylor in 2023 but that will have to wait.
Yankee fans have been here before. Facing Houston in the ALCS, and have come up short each time. Will this time be different? Consider the following:
- The Yankees field the almost all-right handed line up per usual. Per usual, it’s not a good idea against Houston. SU says that Boone needs to force Carpenter into the line up somehow. Decide what you want to sacrifice (Stanton in left field who might be a liability defensively) but let’s get Carpenter more at bats than the occasional pinch hit appearance.
- Apparently, there is only one travel day which means games 3 – 7 will be played on consecutive days. Of course, that is a disaster scenario for the Yankees’ bullpen which is already running on fumes. The good news? There is rain in the forecast for Sunday and Monday and maybe the Yankees can steal a rainout for one of those days.
- Cole can pitch game 3 and then perhaps game 7 on 3 days rest. Not ideal. Will they roll out Frankie Montas for this series? SU says please do not do that. Ride the pitchers that got you here. His acquisition was a mistake. Admit it and move on.
- What do you do about shortstop? IKF had a rough series in the field but he can actually hit with RISP unlike virtually the rest of the team. If Hicks is out (and by the way, how is he an upgrade for anything?), the choice is IFK or Cabrera at shortstop. SU likes Carbrera but he has bobbled a few in the field at shortstop as well.
- Aaron Boone is a key guy this series. How he handles the roster and the bullpen might actually be important in this series. This does not give SU the warm fuzzies.
- Bad things happen to the Yankees in Minute Maid Park. They just do. And the team knows it.
SU said at the start of the season that the goal in 2022 was making it to the World Series. That is still the case. Falling short is a failed season for this roster and payroll. Now, you can give them a pass with all of the injuries to the relievers (King, Green, Marinaccio, Britten, Efross, and there are probably others). The starters rarely go more than 5 innings and there are just too many outs to cover with less than stellar relievers.
The Yankees are still standing unlike the Braves and the Dodgers. But it’s hard to see how this ends well for them. The smart money feels like Houston in 6 games but of course, SU will hold out hope for somehow stealing 2 more wins. Tonight may actually be a chance for one. The Astros might actually be too rested and perhaps the hitters are a bit off on their timing.
Is SU being too pessimistic? Feel free to weigh in with your predictions.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Regarding your question about SU being too pessimistic…are you referring to this specific post, or every Yankee post for the last three years?
From an outside viewpoint, I think if Giancarlo hits, they have a legitimate chance.
I prefer to be seen as a realist but point noted.
I think Howard is an optimist when it comes to the Yankees. They’ve won once this century.
Yesterday’s game was a solid win if not terribly exciting. I was at the game and the crowd got into it at all the appropriate moments but, with the early lead, there wasn’t a tremendous amount of tension. The best spontaneous crowd reaction by far was when Cortez did a particularly (even for him) deceptive leg kick and 40,000 people laughed all at once.
Boone is going to have to make all the right moves to beat Houston. He really got away with a bad one in Game 3 in Cleveland when he didn’t bring Hughes in to close. You would understand if Hughes was still hurt or if he wanted to save his arm. But the truth is that he used Hughes in other games. You don’t leave your closer in the bullpen in a close game in the playoffs. I can understand the logic of sometimes mixing relievers around and using him in an earlier inning. But there should be no scenario where you end a close game with Clarke Schmidt if Hughes hasn’t pitched yet. I think Boone has learned that lesson.
I’m fine having Stanton play the field. But I’m not sure if it’s worth it for Carpenter. I it’s not about lefty/righty. Carpenter looks like he hasn’t swung a bat in 2 months because he hasn’t. I actually would consider leaving him off the roster unless they’re seeing something else in batting practice.
I feel bad for Hicks. All 3 players had a chance for that fly ball but he ran the farthest and fastest and I think it’s his to call. He also had a nice play earlier in the game cutting off a ball in the gap before it turned in to a double.
Great job by the entire team to wait until the series was over to stick it to Naylor. They left the heckling to the fans and went about their business. It started with Cole who didn’t get rattled and didn’t retaliate, other than striking out Naylor and saying he was “funny” in the post game questioning. Cole can be an emotional guy but he really set the tone for getting the team to focus on the job at hand.
Great analysis, Howard – sad, but great!