In one of the most interesting Division Series in recent history, the Yankees were able to push through it all and move on. With a whirlwind of issues that plagued the Yankees, inclement weather, in particular, they fought through it to secure a spot in the ALCS.
With multiple cancellations due to weather issues, it became a major inconvenience for not just the Yankees, but the Cleveland Guardians too. Pitcher schedules were being thrown completely off and pushed the Division Series’s end closer to the Championship Series.
Off-the-field issues also jumped in the way of their chase for postseason success as a relief pitcher, Aroldis Chapman, refused to attend a mandatory workout. Yankees manager, Aaron Boone and the Yankees’ front office, promptly cut him from the playoff roster after his absence.
Regardless of what they had to endure throughout their five-game set with the Cleveland Guardians, the Yankees came out on top in the end.
Newly acquired outfielder from the St. Louis Cardinals, Harrison Bader, isn’t necessarily known as a power hitter, but he showed something different throughout the Division Series. Despite hitting only five home runs throughout the regular season, he managed to crush three over the wall against the Guardians.
He put the team on his back with his offensive performance as superstars, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton struggled at the plate the entire series. With Bader being on such a hot streak, one might imagine that he could prove to play a major part in the series against their opposition in the Championship Series.
They will be facing off against their new playoff rivals, the Houston Astros, as they will be facing off against each other for the third time in six years. Although they seem to meet up in the playoffs every season, the Astros just seem to have the edge every year.
With an absolutely loaded roster on paper, the Astros are once again a sinister enemy of the Yankees in 2022. In this season, they opposed each other seven times and the Yankees dropped all but two of them.
It is going to be very important for Yankee pitching to keep slugger, Yordan Alvarez at bay throughout the series. His 2022 performance in the regular season was nothing to scoff at as he managed to finish in the top 5 in multiple offensive categories. On top of his regular season performance, his postseason statistics are very reminiscent of his regular season numbers.
The Yankee offense will need to focus on attacking the Astros’ starting pitching early in the series. Future Hall of Famer, Justin Verlander headlines their starting rotation. Coming off of quite possibly the best year of his career at the age of 39, he will be looking his finish his incredible season with a bang.
Going forward, the Yankees are really going to have to come together to defeat this powerful Astros team. Both the team and the fans are looking for Aaron Judge to break out of the current postseason slump he has been experiencing. For the entirety of the regular season, he lead the way for the offense as a whole and had a record-breaking season to boot. He has the tools to make any necessary adjustments that he needs, it’s just a matter of when that will happen.
With the major scheduling changes that happened during the Division Series, it will be important for the entire Yankee pitching staff to make the adjustment. With both Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes pitching on short rest to finish out the series, it will be important for others to step up while they recover.
To defeat the Astros this season, it will truly be an uphill battle from the start, but with as magical of a season it has been, nothing is impossible.
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Featured image courtesy of Wendell Cruz / USA Today Sports
Video clips courtesy of MLB.com
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