Here they are again: For the fourth time since Aaron Judge’s rookie season in 2017, the New York Yankees have reached the American League Championship Series.
But the Yankees are looking to do something they haven’t done since 2009, and that is win the ALCS and reach the World Series. In the Yankees’ last three ALCS matchups, they have been defeated by the Houston Astros. However, this year, the Cleveland Guardians are standing between them and a World Series appearance. Here are three keys to the Yankees reaching the World Series.
1: Rotation Rises to the occasion
Gerrit Cole’s lights-out performance in Game 4 against Kansas City is a big reason why the Yankees were able to advance, but the rest of the rotation will have to rise to the occasion.
New York will be rolling out a rotation as follows: Carlos Rodon in Game 1, Cole in Game 2, followed by Clarke Schmidt in Game 3, and Luis Gil in Game 4. In order for the Yankees to be successful, all four starters will need to be at their best.
Getting the ball on Monday night, Rodon will look to set the tone better than he did in the ALDS against the Royals. The southpaw struggled in his Game 2 ALDS start, getting through only 3.2 innings, allowing seven hits and four runs.
With another big opportunity ahead, Rodon is ready to step up for his team.
“Game 1 just sets the tone,” Rodon said. “Looking forward to being out there again, feeling the energy, and just giving my team the best chance to win.”
2: Middle of the lineup mashes
Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and Giancarlo Stanton are the three Yankees who led the team in home runs this season, but hit a combined one home run through the four games of the ALDS. The trio’s only homer coming on a Stanton solo shot in Game
3. While Stanton was able to be a major piece in the ALDS puzzle for the Yankees, fans are hoping to see more from Judge and Soto this round.
Judge will have yet another chance to shake off his postseason struggles in perhaps the most important series of his career. Having only hit .154 in the ALDS, Judge will look to do what he has all season, put his team on his back.
In the case of Soto, he hit .286 in the divisional series with two RBI. If Judge and Soto are able to rise to the occasion, the Yankees could be celebrating their 41st American League pennant by the end of the series.
3: Avoid Clase
This season, Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase has been borderline unhittable. In the regular season, he finished with a league-leading 47 saves. This was the third season in a row in which Clase led the league in that category.
He also finished the season with an insane 0.66 ERA, as well as a WHIP of 0.659.
This postseason, Clase was shown to be human, as he allowed a key three-run home run to Kerry Carpenter of the Detroit Tigers. However, he made up for it in Game 5, recording six consecutive outs en route to his second save of the series.
One advantage for the Yankees could be Clase’s workload, as he pitched in four of Cleveland’s five games. But the numbers don’t lie, and the Yankees will need to do whatever it takes to avoid having to face Clase. If they do, the game is practically over.
