The Thursday Discussion: The Biggest Surprise...

October 17, 2024

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This week we asked our writers:

After two ALCS games, what has been the biggest surprise for you regarding the Yankees this series?

Here are their replies:

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Derek McAdam - I am surprised at how well the bullpen has played in the first two games. They have been so crucial to keeping the Yankees ahead in games. But also, as demonstrated in Game 2, they can come in high-leverage situations and keep the damage to a minimum. 

I am also impressed with how well Anthony Rizzo has been playing. He’s had very nice at-bats and has been solid defensively at first. 

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Cary Greene - The biggest surprise for me is really how well the Yankees bullpen has pitched and especially the emergence of Luke Weaver as a dominating, slam the door type October closer. Weaver has been absolutely huge for the Yankees thus far in the playoffs, he's doing it all -- from recording multiple innings saves to making fearsome hitters like Jose Ramirez tap out to end a big rally. 

There's no doubt that the Yankees must be thrilled that both Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon are both rounding into form when it matters most -- in October! Also, the Yankees caught a massive break when the Orioles withered down the stretch as the importance of the first round bye and home field advantage cannot be understated. Kudos to Giancarlo Stanton also, he's a proven postseason performer and he's looking very locked in right now. The bomb he drilled off of Sabrowski the other night was impressive, but the pitch before the Stantonian blast was fouled straight back. Honestly, I was shocked that Stephen Vogt didn't elect to pitch around Stanton after that, Stanton was very obviously locked in. 

A lot has to go right from here on out for the Yankees to win it all, but if Weaver keeps dominating and the Yankees continue to get great starts from Cole and Rodon, there's a good chance they might be able to overcome the Guardian's dominating pitching and advance to a World Series. The Yankees are scoring just enough runs and their pitching staff and bullpen have both really risen to the occasion so far. Cleveland is no pushover and in a longer series, the Yankees will have no choice but to not only score enough runs, they'll have to keep limiting the Guardian's offense in order to advance. 

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Lincoln Mitchell - The biggest surprise for me two games in, on the Yankees side, is that for the first time all season it seems like they have a lineup that hits from top to bottom. The 7-9 spots in the lineup have gotten big hits and been instrumental in their success thus far. That puts them in a much stronger position to win six more games this year.

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Tamar Chalker - I would have to go with Rizzo. He hasn’t been without some hiccups, but considering he missed the ALDS with a couple of fractured fingers, he is doing much better than I expected.

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Paul Semendinger - It might have been a smart "baseball" decision, but I was amazed and surprised that the Guardians walked Juan Soto to load the bases with one out for Aaron Judge in Game Two of the series. That, by far, was the biggest surprise for me.

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Ethan Semendinger - The biggest surprise for me after two games in the ALCS is seeing the lack of starting pitching by Cleveland. Cleveland has seemed to always be (at least in recent history) a starting pitching-first team, and it was odd that they went with a 37-year-old Alex Cobb for Game 1 of the ALCS. It was even more odd to see Tanner Bibee- their best starting pitcher in 2024- fail to finish 2 innings in Game 2.

It was just few years ago (does 2018 still count as a few years ago?) they were boasting an extremely promising rotation of Corey Kluber, Shane Bieber, (a good) Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer (before his problems), and Mike Clevinger. Now, they are a bullpen-heavy team with their "4 horsemen": Emmanuel Clase, Hunter Gaddis, Cade Smith, and Tim Herrin. However, we've experienced this as Yankees fans when we had "No Runs DMC" and the other great bullpens of the late-2010's.

Thing is, bullpen arms tire quickly in October due to overuse. Cleveland's Big 4, three of them (Clase, Gaddis, and Smith) were put for 74+ innings this year, while Tim Herrin pitched 65.2 innings. Across their ALDS, they combined for another 20 more innings of work. They're showing us what we already know and have seen before: they're tired.

This is great for the Yankees.

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Mike Whiteman - There are really no surprises for me. The Yankees have outplayed the Guardians the first two games, like we thought they could. Keep it up!

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Tim Kabel - For me, the biggest surprise is the positive contributions from Anthony Rizzo. He’s actually better than he was before he broke his fingers. I was wrong when I suggested that he not be put on the roster. I stand corrected and I hope it continues.