About the Postseason: Guarded Optimism

About the Postseason: Guarded Optimism

By Tim Kabel

October 17, 2024

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The Yankees were off last night after getting out to a two games to none lead over the Cleveland Guardians in the ALCS. There are potentially five games remaining in the series and the Yankees have to win two of them. The Guardians would have to win four. The odds seem to be in the Yankees favor. However, having the odds in your favor is not a guarantee of anything.

The Yankees won Tuesday night in a game they were lucky to win. Gerrit Cole was ineffective. Luke Weaver actually gave up a run. The Yankees left 17 men on base. In the 6th inning, Jazz Chisholm, Jr. and Anthony Rizzo both doubled and were quickly erased on the basepaths. As John Sterling noted, “the Yankees ran the bases like drunks.” (Sterling should be careful with remarks like that since they are not politically correct. It might end his career.)

Despite playing a sloppy game, the Yankees won. The Guardians played a sloppy game as well. They made two errors and their starting pitcher, Tanner Bibee only lasted 1.i innings.

Aaron Judge seems to be coming out of his slump, as he hit a home run and drove in three runs. The bullpen was extremely efficient once again. Anthony Volpe and Anthony Rizzo each had two hits. Things are looking good for the Yankees. They're headed into game three this evening with a two games to none league. That is very good and encouraging but, it guarantees nothing.

There are multiple examples of teams that had two games to none leads in a seven game series that eventually lost that series. The Guardians could return home and straighten themselves out. Their pitching could shut the Yankees down and the Guardians could beat up on Clark Schmidt and Luis Gil. I'm not saying that will happen. I'm just saying that it could happen. That is why the Yankees cannot let up. They need to avoid base running blunders and get timely hits. They need to make smart plays and play crisp defense. They need solid pitching from the starters and the relievers. They won a sloppy game on Tuesday. They might not get so lucky next time.

While being up two games to none is not a guarantee of anything, it is certainly better than being tied at one game apiece or trailing two games to none. In other words, we can feel very good about the Yankees’ prospects at this point but, we shouldn't start printing our World Series tickets just yet. Anything is possible and the Guardians are a very good team. They could easily come back and erase the Yankees’ advantage. The Yankees cannot take them for granted and must press on at full speed.

At this point, the Guardians have not yet named their starting pitcher for tonight. Honestly, it doesn't matter because the Yankees will need to beat whoever it is. They are certainly capable of doing so. They are also capable of losing to almost anyone but, they have been avoiding that lately. The fact that they are finding ways to win games now, as opposed to finding ways to lose them, is encouraging. Let's hope that trend continues.

As has been noted, the Yankees need to win 11 games to be the World Series Champions. Right now, they have 5 victories acumulated. They are almost halfway there. Ideally, the Yankees will wrap this up in Cleveland and not come back to Yankee Stadium needing to win the series. Obviously, they could still win the series but, it's always better to finish things up as quickly as possible and not leave anything to chance. When you leave things to chance, there's always a chance it won't work out. Right now, things look good for the Yankees. Not perfect obviously, but good. As Laurel and Hardy said in The March of the Wooden Soldiers, “so good, so far”. Hopefully when I write my recap of Friday night's game, it will be detailing a Yankees’ sweep or at the very least a three games to one  lead in their favor.