AL Wild Card Series 2020: Indians vs. Yankees Odds and Fantasy Picks

The Cleveland Indians will play host to the New York Yankees in the No. 4 vs. No. 5 seed matchup in the American League Wild Card Series.

The Indians finished the season on a roll with a 9-2 record in their last 11 games, and AL Cy Young front-runner Shane Bieber will be on the mound to kick things off Tuesday. Veteran Carlos Carrasco and 2020 breakout star Zach Plesac will follow him in the best-of-three showdown.

Offensively, the Indians struggled to consistently score runs for much of the year with a .689 OPS (27th in MLB) and 4.13 runs per game (25th in MLB). However, the pitching staff led the AL with a 3.29 ERA and 1.11 WHIP.

On the other side, the Yankees had an up and down September, with a 4-13 record sandwiching a 10-game winning streak. Gerrit Cole and Masahiro Tanaka will bring a wealth of postseason experience to the mound in Game 1 and Game 2, respectively.

The third playoff starter will be either left-hander J.A. Happ or electric rookie Deivi Garcia, and both of those pitchers will be significant X-factors if the Yankees make a long postseason run.

Odds

To Win World Series

Cleveland: +1500 (wager $100 to win $1500)

New York: +600 (wager $100 to win $600)

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Fantasy Picks

3B Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Indians

Tony Dejak/Associated Press

The Indians offense may have been inconsistent this year, but they boast arguably the hottest hitter in all of baseball in Jose Ramirez.

The AL MVP candidate hit .366/.453/.841 with 10 home runs and 24 RBI in 23 games in September, tallying 12 multi-hit games along the way.

"He's going to bring it every single day," teammate Adam Plutko told reporters. "He never asks for a day off. He looks for the spotlight."

The 28-year-old is a career .195/.247/.253 hitter in 93 plate appearances in the postseason, including an 0-for-11 showing in the 2018 ALDS, but he has as much momentum as any hitter in baseball.

He's gone 9-for-14 with one double, one triple and one home run in his career against Tanaka, so he will be a particularly good fantasy option Wednesday.

SP J.A. Happ, New York Yankees

Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

Assuming he is named the Game 3 starter for the Yankees as expected, left-hander J.A. Happ could be a sneaky good fantasy play Thursday if the series goes that long.

The 37-year-old won't be one of the higher-priced starters in a slate that could feature as many as eight games, but he's been pitching well of late.

After a pair of shaky outings to begin the year, he's gone 2-1 with a 2.34 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and 39 strikeouts in 42.1 innings spanning seven starts.

That includes a gem against the Boston Red Sox on Sept. 19, when he allowed just four hits and struck out nine over eight shutout innings.

While most daily fantasy players will likely look to the NL side of the slate and those Game 2 starters to fill their pitching slots, Happ has a chance to provide terrific value if he can maintain his regular-season momentum.

All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference unless otherwise noted.