Guardians vs. Yankees Early Odds and Preview for ALDS After Wild Card
The youngest team in Major League Baseball will face one of the most experienced playoff teams in the American League Divisional Series.
The Cleveland Guardians swept the Tampa Bay Rays in the wild-card round by way of a 15th-inning walk-off home run from Oscar González to set up an ALDS clash with the New York Yankees.
Cleveland conceded a single run to Tampa Bay in 24 innings on Friday and Saturday, Its pitching staff will have plenty of time to rest since the series with the Yankees does not begin until Tuesday.
New York carries some of the best sluggers in baseball on its roster, led by new AL home run king Aaron Judge, but it may have a tough time scoring runs against a pitching staff that gave up nine hits in its first two playoff games.
Cleveland's sweep means that Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie could be available from the start of the series. Full rest for both pitchers would put them in line to start Games 2 and 3.
Gerrit Cole will oppose whichever hurler Cleveland puts on the mound in Game 1, and after that, the pitching matchup may lean in favor of the Guardians.
Series Odds and Schedule
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Series Odds
New York Yankees (-170; bet $170 to win $100)
Cleveland (+140; bet $100 to win $140)
Game 1: Tuesday, October 11 at New York
Game 2: Thursday, October 13 at New York
Game 3: Saturday, October 15 at Cleveland
Game 4: Sunday, October 16 at Cleveland (if necessary)
Game 5: Monday, October 17 at New York (if necessary)
All game times are TBD.
Cleveland's Pitching Gives It Chance Against Yankees
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A fantastic set of pitchers can take you a long way in the MLB postseason.
Cleveland showcased its brilliant arms in the two games against Tampa Bay. Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie were tremendous in their respective starts, and the bullpen followed through with some near-flawless pitching.
Bieber struck out eight batters and conceded one earned run on three hits in 7.2 innings in Game 1. McKenzie fanned eight over six scoreless innings in Game 2.
Guardians manager Terry Francona should not be pressured to rush Bieber and McKenzie back to the mound since the ALDS is a best-of-five series.
Francona could ask Aaron Civale or Cal Quantrill to give the Guardians four to six solid innings in Game 1 to then set up the bullpen to finish the game. Cleveland's bullpen gave up four hits in 10.1 innings against Tampa Bay.
A fully rested Bieber and McKenzie would give the Guardians the opportunity to compete with the Yankees. Both hurlers could have the advantage in their respective matchups once the Yankees use Gerrit Cole in Game 1.
Quantrill could be Cleveland's X-factor if he receives a start inside Progressive Field. He was 9-0 with a 3.28 ERA inside his home ball park in the regular season.
Cleveland's bullpen will be able to shoulder a heavy workload in Game 1 to bridge the gap to Bieber and McKenzie.
A possible scenario for Cleveland would feature Civale and Quantrill splitting the first half of Game 1 so that both pitchers can get work. Quantrill would be able to start Game 4, and the bullpen would hopefully not get overstretched when Bieber and McKenzie throw.
Cleveland will be the underdog in the ALDS, but if it shuts down Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Co., it could win a few low-scoring games to advance to the ALCS.
Yankees Need Strong Open from Gerrit Cole
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New York needs to take away any confidence or momentum Cleveland gained from the wild-card series through Gerrit Cole in Game 1.
The Yankees last played Wednesday, and while they are better rested, they could enter at a slight disadvantage because Cleveland is riding an emotional high.
Cole has to produce a statement in Game 1 to give the Yankees the best possible chance to end the series early.
Cole opened the 2020 postseason with 13 strikeouts in seven innings against Cleveland. He recorded 30 punchouts and gave up six earned runs in his three starts in the 2020 postseason.
Last year's playoff outing did not well for the Yankees ace, as he gave up a pair of home runs and three earned runs over 2.1 innings versus the Boston Red Sox.
Cole could have his own personal motivation to put that performance behind him and open the series with a victory inside Yankee Stadium.
A strong outing of Cole in Game 1 would set the tone for the Yankees and allow him to potentially come back in Game 4 on full rest. There is an off day between Games 1 and 2 that both teams could use to their advantage to rest their pitching staffs.
New York manager Aaron Boone could opt for a different strategy in which Luis Severino or Nestor Cortés pitches Game 1, but then that could hurt the team if it needs a shutdown performance in Game 4 out of Cole.
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Will Aaron Judge Be Looser at the Plate?
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The pressure of the home run record chase is no longer hovering over Aaron Judge.
Judge set a new American League record with his 62nd home run on the penultimate day of the regular season.
Judge went five games between his 61st and 62nd home runs, and his drought lasted seven days between the 60th and 61st home runs.
The Yankees outfielder did not have a multi-hit game in his final 13 games. He had nine multi-hit performances from September 2-21.
Judge has 11 home runs and 22 RBI in 35 postseason appearances. His lone hit against Cleveland in the wild-card round in 2020 was a home run in Game 1. He also homered in Game 1 of the ALDS that year.
The impending free agent will still have pressure on his shoulders to succeed, but he has dealt with how tough the postseason is on multiple occasions. He had not experience a home run record chase prior to this season.
If Judge is looser at the plate, the Yankees may have the ability to chase one of Cleveland's starters early, or at least make them feel uncomfortable in certain innings.
It is easy to say the Yankees need Judge to thrive to make a deep postseason run, but there may be some looming concerns about the slugger since the last two weeks of the regular season did not go as planned.
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