The New York Yankees failed many expectations by not being the first seed in the AL East. However, they fought through all the injuries they had and the controversy of COVID. The Next Man Up mentality hasn’t an option this year due to the injuries the backups endured. It was a mess, but two diamonds in the rough, made this year shape up perfectly. Take a guess who those two players are? If you guessed Luke Voit and DJ LeMachine, you are right. These two had MVP caliber year’s and when DJ went to the IL10, Voit steppes up big time through a foot injury. DJ led the league in batting average and is the first player to win a batting title in the NL (Rockies) and AL (Yankees). Voit led the league in HRs and seems to have won the Hank Aaron Award. Let’s see if these two superstars can transfer their regular-season success into the postseason.

Game One Preview (Cole vs. Bieber):

It’ll be a tough one in Game One. The Yankees will face AL CY Young nominee, Shane Bieber. He led the league in wins, ERA, and Strikeouts; he won the pitching triple crown. Meanwhile, we will have our Ace, Gerrit Cole on the mound. Cole is a beast, and he has proven himself in the postseason. I’m not worried about the Yankee offense because, in past years, the Indians pitching staff always seems to have the big name pitchers and lose. In 2017, they choked a 2-0 lead versus us in the ALDS with Corey Kluber (Prime Years), Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco, Mike Clevinger, and Andrew Miller. Keep in mind in 2017, we were the Baby Bombers and weren’t even expected to win a game in the ALDS. To some, they’d thought we’d lose the WC game. With the salary, Gerrit Cole is receiving and the way he’s been pitching as of late, he’ll deliver a light’s outperformance. It’s either going to be that Gerrit is going to look great tomorrow, and Bieber will be out before the 6th, or it’ll be a pitching war, and it’s 0-0, and Cole gives up a HR in the 8th, and it ends 1-0, and we lose. Higashioka is set to catch for Cole, so we’ll see how he does.

Game Two Preview (Tanaka vs. Carrasco):

The Great Postseason pitcher, Masahiro Tanaka! He will face Carlos Carrasco. That’ll be an interesting one, and it’ll depend on how Cole pitches in Game One. He’s the tone-setter, and if he delivers a shutout, all the pressure is relieved from Tanaka, and he can pitch freely, which could lead to a Yankee victory. The Yanks should be home for Game Two, they are great at home, but it’s meaningless with no fans. Carrasco is a good pitcher, but I would’ve started Plesac over him, Plesac is a beast, and he’s only a rookie. That kid will be dangerous in the future! The key players to look out for versus the Indians is Lindor, Ramirez, and Santana. Those are their top 3. This is winnable. Hopefully, we face the winner of the Rays/Blue Jays. This team is different in the playoffs.

*If Necessary*, Game Three Preview (Garcia/Happ vs. Plesac):

If there were a Game Three, it’d be in Cleveland, and the pitching matchup would be either Happ or Garcia versus Plesac. I’d personally start Garcia because he doesn’t choke under pressure, and Happ is too unreliable in the playoffs and is a liability to the team. Plesac is going to do his thing for them. It’s either did or Civale, and they are both great options. This will be an exciting series, and we are all looking forward to it. I think I speak for all Yankee fans when I say this, but it’s World Series or BUST at this point. We need to win!

How to watch?

When: 7pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
Where: Indians have home field advantage
Network: ESPN (Channel 570 on Fios), fuboTV and on MLBTV
Broadcast (Audio): WFAN, WADO, and WTAM

Predictions:

Me (@jd_5BD on twitter): Yanks 2-0
Marcin (@G0LDEK16 on twitter): Indians 2-1
Matt (@MeloWRLD7 on twitter): Yanks 2-1
Wens (@5BDwens on twitter): Yanks 2-0
Julian (@BLMKuz on twitter): Indians 2-1
Saben (@SBNuggets on twitter) Yanks 2-1

Thanks for reading. This has been Jose Calderon III with FiveBoroughDispatch. Have a great day, everybody!