ALDS Round: Yankees vs. Rays

edoug

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What's the "Wow" about? The series starts on Monday. Oh yeah, sarcasm.
 

BaseballJones

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This should be a helluva series. I haven't paid attention to the playoffs so far, but I could see myself watching some of this. Don't like either team. Respect the heck out of both teams.
 

jon abbey

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NY will presumably go with Cole, Tanaka, Happ and Deivi in the first four games. TB will go with Snell, Glasnow, Morton and then unclear.

These DS series will be wild if they get to games 4 and 5 because with no off days, teams are really going to have to dig into their pitching depth. I wonder if Clarke Schmidt makes this roster as a potential long guy?
 

VORP Speed

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Yarbrough likely in a game 4, although maybe behind an opener. If it gets to games 4/5, those are going to effectively be bullpen games for the Rays with quick hooks and lots and lots of relievers.

Rays and Yankees staying in same hotel. Maybe Chapman will throw a grapefruit at someone’s head during breakfast in the restaurant.
 

jon abbey

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If he does, Cash has a whole damn stable of guys who can throw grapefruits. :)
 

Brand Name

make hers mark
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Moving the Line
With a minimum of 10 games played against one another in the regular , this is the third series that one team is .800%+ against its opposition:

-1983 NLCS, LA was 10-1 against Philly, but Philadelphia advanced 3-1.

-1988 NLCS, Mets were 10-1 against the Dodgers, but LA pulled it out 4-3.

Let’s hope history repeats itself again.
 

terrynever

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With a minimum of 10 games played against one another in the regular , this is the third series that one team is .800%+ against its opposition:

-1983 NLCS, LA was 10-1 against Philly, but Philadelphia advanced 3-1.

-1988 NLCS, Mets were 10-1 against the Dodgers, but LA pulled it out 4-3.

Let’s hope history repeats itself again.
You just ruined VORP’s day!
 

terrynever

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Rays are the clear underdogs. Stars shine in October, you can't win with a bunch of nobodies, low-budget teams have a ceiling.
So you’re saying the Rays can’t win the World Series? That might be a bridge too far. But they can and should win this division series, which will be played on a grass field, not in a bank lobby.
 

jon abbey

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Ooh, I was hoping you would steal my old avatar, midseason karma reversed bigtime.
 

jon abbey

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So let's take a look at NY's potential roster changes for the ALDS. Here is the 28 man roster for the CLE series and the 12 man taxi squad they can choose replacements from:



13 pitchers, NY should probably add one more for this round, King, Schmidt or Yajure. I can see arguments for all three, Yajure feels like the one to me most likely to be able to put up 2-3 shutout innings in the middle of a game, but I would not be surprised with any of them.

So which position player is dropped? The obvious answer is the third catcher, Kratz, but I think NY has been holding onto him to start with Deivi, as follows:

1) Cole/Higashioka (already confirmed)
2) Tanaka/Sanchez
3) Happ/Sanchez
4) Garcia/Kratz

That way Sanchez doesn't have to start three days in a row.

So then the next thought is Mike Ford, DJ can cover 1B in addition to Voit, but that leaves NY with only 1 bench guy who can play any infield positions (Wade), that seems dangerous.

So actually I think Tauchman is the most likely player to get bumped, one of Clint/Brett starts and the other is the extra OF. Tauchman is a great pinch-runner/defender but think he gets bumped.
 

jon abbey

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Mike Axisa also thinks NY will pick one of those three as a long man and drop a position player, he is guessing the more obvious Schmidt replaces Kratz.
 

VORP Speed

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Rays are probably going to add Fleming and maybe Richards to the 13 pitchers they carried for Wild Card round.

But more importantly, here’s a blurb from Rays first Petco workout:

“Infield prospect Wander Franco put on a show during batting practice, homering from both sides of the plate, and with some distance.”

I’m still hoping against hope they decide to slip him into the roster for this series.
 

jon abbey

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Gary Sanchez has 5 HRs in 20 career ABs vs Snell, what about Stanton in LF and Gary at DH to start game 1?
 

VORP Speed

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T-minus 24 hours.

All games prime time. No surprise there.

G1, Mon: 8:07
G2, Tues: 8:10
G3, Weds: 7:10
G4*, Thurs: 7:10
G5*, Fri: 7:10
 

jon abbey

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Boone said he won't announce his other SPs for now, maybe until after game 1. I think they want to see how Cole feels after and how many pitches he throws, as to whether they want to try him again in game 5 on 3 days rest. Some may remember that the Astros tried this with Verlander against TB last year in games 1 (dominant) and 4 (on 3 days rest for I think also the first time ever and and he got hammered), so few aces are strong enough to do this in recent years. Cole only had a two month season and even in that was clearly pacing himself to an extent after going through a full postseason last year, another decision I am glad I am not the one making.

Really curious about this roster decision, Yajure pitched three hitless (but three walks) and scoreless innings against TB, coming in with NY down 5-0 after 6 and holding TB down while NY cut it to 5-3 before losing. Schmidt is older but even a little less experienced, but more upside and possible length. King is the most experienced but seems to always suck after 2 innings tops, and NY needs potential length (that's what she said) from whichever of those three they add.

I think they will flip Kratz for Schmidt, I think I would flip Tauchman for Yajure, but it is all really close and they have a thousand times more info than me/us. I really would like to see Kratz catching Deivi in game 4, though.