Aaron Judge

New York Yankees Bold Prediction For The 2019 Season

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New York Yankees' Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.

We’re a week into New York Yankees baseball, how about some bold predictions – which will only turn out to be way off base later, but what the heck:

Troy Tulowitzki hits .250 with 15 homers and gives you solid defense until Didi gets back.  He was one of the top shortstops during his tenure with the Rockies.  He’s going to be a good fit he he stays healthy and with that attitude-he wanted to replace Jeter when he retired-he yelled into the Blue Jays dugout as he rounded the bases for his homerun-an attitude that demands respect and gets it.

Tulowitzki’s homer off Marcus Stroman was a good one, not a batting practice homer off of a AAA relief pitcher. He had a double and a walk in Saturday’s matchup with the Pirates and made his signature moves at shortstop -the off-balance throw to first to catch the runner.

The first base competition for the Yankees takes a turn:

Greg Bird makes the opening day roster and Luke Voit starts the season in AAA along with Clint Frazier.  The reason I make this prediction is because Bird is raking, he had a double in Saturday’s loss to the Pirates to continue his hitting streak. Bird is six for 11 with four extra-base hits so far this spring.  If he keeps up this torrid pace, his lefty bat makes its way into the lineup.

Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton hit 100 homers. The Yankees hit 266 home runs in 2018, setting a Major League Baseball record.  The lineup was fraught with injuries to key players, such as Judge (wrist) and Stanton (hamstrings) who played through injury because Judge was out.  

A pair of healthy sluggers make the world go round:

In 2019, both Judge and Stanton are healthy to start the season and fans are excited to see the power bats in action again gearing up for what will undoubtedly be a big season for this pair of sluggers.  Judge, who hit 27 homers in 112 games in ’18 is projected by ZiPS to perhaps hit 35 homers in 128 games in ’19.

Stanton, on the other hand, hit 38 homers in 150 games in ’19 and ZiPS projects him for a big year in ’19 with 47 home runs in 150 games.  The resulting combined projected homers, according to ZiPS, for Judge and Stanton would be 82, but I’m predicting that Judge has a better year that ZiPS projects and we see him claim the power throne from Stanton.

-Judge will hit over 50 homers this season and be in the MVP conversation-

Yankees win 103 games. While the Yankees fans were ecstatic that the team won 100 games in 2018, losing to the Red Sox to end the season was no cause for celebration.  It took a while to appreciate the 100 wins, especially with the seasons that Bird and Gary Sanchez had and the injuries to Judge, Sanchez and Aroldis Chapman that they had to overcome.

2019 feels like an improved team, with the addition of James Paxton, Adam Ottaviano and infielders, DJ LeMahieu and Troy Tulowitzki – fans are expecting nothing less than a World Series this season.  Are these the players that can deliver – or, in the case of Tulowitzki, can he deliver until Gregorius is ready to return to the team in July or perhaps, even August?

A clean bill of health is necessary if No. 28 is to be realistic:

The 2019 Yankees have the opportunity to outpace the 2018 team and win number 28 on paper, but as always, the health of the team, and sometimes even luck, have a lot to say about how a season pans out.

Last bold prediction is my opening day roster – this is the best team I believe we can field behind the ace Severino on Opening Day – what changes would you make?

Opening Day Roster:

  • Gardner LF
  • Judge RF
  • Stanton DH
  • Sanchez C
  • Hicks CF
  • Bird 1B
  • Torres SS
  • Andujar 3B
  • LeMahieu 2B

New York Yankees: Masahiro Tanaka Dominant in Spring Debut

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New York Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka

New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka had is spring debut on Sunday at home against the Tigers, and boy he sure looked good.

In the first inning, Tigers centerfielder Daz Cameron rocketed a double deep into center field, but Tanaka stranded him on third by striking out the next two batters and forcing a fly out to center for the third out.

Tanaka’s second inning was flawless, working three groundouts to the left side, two of them to Miguel Andujar at third. The first one, Andujar took a few steps right to field a backhanded, hard-hit ground ball, and threw a two-hopper to first. The second was a routine ground ball that he put away with ease.

The third inning was just as good for Tanaka, getting the leadoff hitter to groundout to Kyle Holder at short, then two easy flyouts to Estevan Florial in center.

His final stat line: three innings, one hit, two strikeouts, and one runner stranded at third.

He also got a little run support in the first two innings, Brett Gardner hit two homeruns to right field for his first two hits of the spring, Aaron Judge lined his first homerun of the spring to right, and Gary Sanchez hit a screamer down the left field line that barely stayed fair.

Yankees feature two squads in two-game Sunday:

The Yankees are actually playing as a split squad today, the other team is playing the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin. Luke Voit is leading the way down there with a solo homerun, making the fight for first base even more interesting.

New York Yankees: James Paxton First Starter to Feature in Spring Training

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Game three of the Yankees 2019 Grapefruit League season happens today and features James Paxton on the mound – Yankees fans first look at the Big Maple in pinstripes.  The game will start at 1:05 on YES from George M. Steinbrenner field.

The Yankees throw out this lineup against the Blue Jays and RHP Marcus Stroman:

The 30 year old left-hander went 11-6 with a 3.76 ERA for the Mariners last season, striking out 208 in only 160.1 innings.  While he had some injury issues in ’18:

“Mel Stottlemyre Jr., Paxton’s pitching coach for the past three seasons, notes that some of the injuries — a bruised left forearm thanks to a comebacker last August, for example — were simply out of the pitcher’s control. Others were the result of Paxton pushing too hard. “He’s a tireless, relentless worker,” says Stottlemyre. “We had to tame it. If he didn’t throw 45 to 50 pitches on the side at 90- to 100-per cent effort level, in his mind, he didn’t feel like he prepared himself.”

Paxton is healthy this spring and fans are eager to see the results of his relentless preparation.

What to expect?  The 6’4, 235 pound southpaw throws his mid-90s four-seamer roughly 60% of the time and his 88-90 mph cutter around 20% of the time, along with a long 80s curveball.  He throws fastballs 80% of the time, which BrooksBaseball.com describes as “blazing fast.”  

Mike Axisa of riveraveblues.com writes that Paxton is second only to Lance Lynn in fastball usage in the league and he generates a high number of swings and misses in the zone.  Unfortunately, his home run totals are high as he generates a high number of fly balls as well.  Fans will be eager to see how this plays out in Yankee Stadium.

Paxton’s comparables, according to Baseball Reference.com are players such as Corey Kluber, J.A. Happ and Luis Severino – all hard throwers who rely primarily on their fastballs.

Rotographs released their Top 100 Pitchers for 2019 and this is how the Yankee pitchers fared: Paxton #19, Luis Severino #12, J.A. Happ #32, Masahiro Tanaka #33 and CC Sabathia #74.

I love this rotation with it’s mix of styles and talents, it’s going to be exciting to see their success as a unit and to see how Paxton fares in the midst of it.

Paxton will share his debut with Tulowitzki, who missed the entire 2018 season for the Blue Jays.  Paxton and Tulowitzki are two important players in the Yankees plans this season for attaining #28.

 

 

 

New York Yankees: Highlighting the biggest position battles entering Spring Training

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New York Yankees, Aaron Hicks

With Spring Training beginning and position players reporting just days from now, a lot of questions remain for the New York Yankees on how the 25 man roster may play out, and on who may start where. Today we dive into the four biggest position battles the Yankees face this spring.

Left field and the extra outfielder:

It remains very obvious that Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks will start in right field and center field, assuming Brian Cashman doesn’t sign Bryce Harper. After Brett Gardner had a rather poor season and Clint Frazier is healthy again, we have ourselves a rookie vs. veteran for a starting outfield position.

Clint Frazier reported on twitter a few weeks ago that he is “cleared to participate in spring training”. Red Thunder has overall had success in his time called-up from AAA, and had a walk-off home run in 2017. Frazier often served as the Yankees “26th man” on doubleheader days last year, without using a minor league option. Frazier bat .265 last season in the majors in 34 at-bats.

Brett Gardner bat just .236 last season, well below his .261 career average. By the end of last season, it seemed that he couldn’t really hit a thing, and with the acquisition of Andrew McCutchen, he saw his playing time go way down in September. In Game 1 of the ALDS, Aaron Hicks went down with a pulled hamstring, forcing Gardner to start games two and three. He ended up going 0-for-8.

You also have Jacoby Ellsbury. He would be more of an option to be the “extra outfielder”, but with him playing poorly over the years and him already having injury issues this season, he is already behind and prone to get hurt again and struggle.

First Base:

The Yankees have a two-man race for the first base position, and from what we saw last season, Yankees fans assume that it will be Luke Voit starting at first base over Greg Bird.

In all of 2018 (Cardinals and Yankees), Luke Voit bat .322 with 15 home runs in 143 at-bats. His incredible strength and power helped fill the slack of the injured Aaron Judge when he joined, but the success didn’t stop once Judge returned. Having Voit in the lineup gives the Yankees three players who can hit the ball all the way into downtown Manhattan.

Greg Bird has been, well……. playing rather poor in his MLB career. He is batting a career .214 in 576 at-bats, and bat just .199 last season. Voit had double the stats of Bird last season in about half as many at-bats. If Bird has a poor spring, could this finally be the end for Bird with the Yankees? Sending him down may be a bad option, the Yankees actually have two great first basemen at the AAA level in Mike Ford and Ryan McBroom, Ford being invited to the major league camp. It’s always possible that the super-underdog could steal the show.

DJ Lemahieu does remain a viable option, but he will focus more on the middle infield. Aaron Boone did say in his first press conference something along the lines of Andujar learning first base a bit, but it isn’t a focus for him or the team. Any way in which the Yankees choose to go; there will be depth.

The middle-infield cluster

The Yankees have four middle infielders for just two starting spots. Those players are Troy Tulowitzki, DJ Lemahieu, Gleybar Torres, and Tyler Wade.

The Yankees kinda shocked the baseball world and signed Troy Tulowitzki for a one year deal, to help fill-in for the injured Didi Gregorius, who appears to be making great progress in his recovery. But Tulo himself has had injury problems, and his stats have been on a decline over the last four years. His fielding, however, remains one of the best in the league. Could he maybe start at shortstop this season? Anything is possible.

Then there is last years starting second base sensation, Gleybar Torres. Remember, he came up as a shortstop and moved to second base due to Didi Gregorius. So with that, he may be the Yankees opening day shortstop with Lemahieu or possibly Wade at second.

Lemahieu remains the most likely option for the opening day second base spot, as that’s where he played with the Rockies for the most part. The only concern in the play of Lemahieu is his struggles away from Coors Field, where he hit so well it. But many Yankees players who can deal with the New York pressure hit well at Yankees Stadium with the short porches making the stadium extremely hitter-friendly.

Tyler Wade will likely not be a starter for the Yankees but should find his way onto the team and the field. He has a pretty solid glove, is a great base-runner, and his versatility can take him out of the infield and into the outfield when need be. His hitting has struggled big time in the majors, but he should be a solid non-offensive option.

A middle relief spot or two is still available

The Yankees have a lot of power guys that are known to help in the final innings but still lack a few middle relief options. Your power relievers are Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, Zack Britton, and Adam Ottavino. Chad Green and Jonathan holder are high leverage, middle relief guys. You have one or two spots available for low leverage situations, let’s see what they have:

In 2017, the Yankees acquired Tommy Kahnle in a trade with the White Sox. He was great in 2017, but an early-season injury in 2018 derailed his season. Once he returned, he never got his high 90s velocity back and spent most of the season in AAA. This season would be a perfect time for a comeback season.

Danny Farquhar missed most of the 2018 season with the White Sox with a brain aneurysm. The Yankees signed him to a minor league deal this Winter with an invite to camp. His career ERA is 3.93, and is pitching with a chip on his shoulder this season. He could be a valuable asset for the Yankees bullpen, too.

Chance Adams pitched just one game last season: an emergency start against the Red Sox, and struggled as presumed. He had ups and downs last season at AAA, but I don’t think he is MLB ready yet. He would be used however as a long reliever if he made the club.

Stephen Tarpley started last season in AA, but made it up all the way come September. Once he got adjusted, he was actually really good, especially against lefties. He would be a great lefty specialist option. If he pitched like he did last season, he should have a good shot at the MLB club.

My 25 man roster prediction:

SP: Severino, Tanaka, Paxton, Happ, CC

RP: Chapman, Betances, Britton, Ottavino, Green, Holder, Tarpley

C: Sanchez, Romine

INF: Voit, Torres, DJ, Wade, Tulo, Andujar

OF/DH: Judge, Stanton, Hicks, Gardner, Frazier

26th man: Ellsbury? Kahnle?

How Did Aaron Judge Impact The New York Yankees in 2018?

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New York Yankees, Aaron Judge

Before breaking down New York Yankees‘ outfielder Aaron Judge’s stats, we must take a look at his 2017 numbers and recognize the fact that he missed several weeks due to a wrist injury.

Judge finished ’17 with 155 games played, 678 plate appearances, 128 runs, 154 hits, 52 home runs, and 208 strikeouts. If you take a look at his strikeout margin, you can see that he records an out in that regard every 3.2 plate appearance. If we assume that most players record four attempts per game, that’s more than one strikeout per game.

The narrative is that Judge can continue to strikeout at a high rate if he continues to hit a massive amount of home runs. That idea changed a bit in 2018, as his HR total dropped while his strikeouts remained high. Last season, he struck out every 3.2 at bats, but only recorded 27 home runs. Of course this is without an additional 180 at bats due to his fractured wrist.

His RBI’s were cut in half from 2017-2018 (114-67). The only uptick in his batting was his ability to record doubles. With 180 less at bats last season, he recorded 22 doubles when in ’17 he amassed 24. This would suggest that his launch angle was lowered, which may have affected his ability to hit home-runs, rather keeping the ball inside of the park.

Just how much did Judge influence the Yankees in 2018?

Now, you might look at the stats in notice that Judge fell off a bit in several sub-categories, but it’s essential to recognize his impact on the team.

Despite the fact that Judge missed one third of the season, the Yankees felt the loss when it came to their run totals per game. When the big bat was in the lineup, the Yankees went 73-39 and averaged 5.42 runs per game. With him out, they were just 27-22 and scored 4.86 runs per game. That’s a noticeable difference, and that’s not even considering his defensive abilities.

So, to wrap up, we can say that Judge struggled in some categories, but his abilities as a player are unparalleled. He influences the game in more than just offensive production, as his defense is just as important. He will only continue to progress as a player in the future, especially at just 26 years old.

The Reason Yankees’ Aaron Judge’s Stats Are Declining In 2018

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New York Yankees, Aaron Judge

Aaron Judge is having another amazing season for the league leading New York Yankees. He is currently tied for 4th in MLB with 20 home runs and tied for 5th in RBI’s with 52. He is currently on pace for 43 home runs, 111 RBI’s, 117 walks with a .277 average. That’s a pretty impressive stat line and is similar to the one he put up in 2017 as the chart below indicates.

Yearly Breakdown

Stat 2017 2018 (Projected)
Home Runs 52 44
RBI’s 114 111
Walks 127 117
Strikeouts 208 220
Average .284 .277

 

Based off of projections, Judge will take slight dips in production in regards to RBI’s, walks, average and strike outs. The most notable dip in production for Judge would be home runs. He is currently on pace to hit 8 less which may not seem that drastic of a drop until you dive deeper into the numbers.

In 2017, Aaron Judge averaged a home run every 9.6 at bats (which included his deep slump from mid July to early September). This season he is averaging a home run every 7.2 at bats. He is also on pace for 51 more at bats this season. That means, if you were to extrapolate his 2017 numbers with the projected at bats for the 2018 season, his 2017 home run total would jump from 52 to 57. Theoretically, you are looking at a difference of 13 home runs based off of these numbers.

Why the Drop?

Nobody is complaining about a projection of 44 home runs but why is there a drop in production for Judge? This had me dive into baseball analytics and look into stats such as exit velocity and launch angle.

Here is a quick review of what each term means:

Exit Velocity measures the speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact. Essentially, how hard you hit the ball.

Launch Angle represents the vertical angle at which the ball leaves a player’s bat after being struck.

The following chart compares Aaron Judges 2017 season to his 2018 season.

Exit Velocity and Launch Angle

Year Exit Velocity Launch Angle
2017 94.9 mph 15.8 degrees
2018 95.9 mph 11.3 degrees

 

As we can see from the chart, Judge’s exit velocity has gone up from 2017 to 2018 which means he still hits the ball extremely hard, extremely often. He is currently tied for 1st in the major leagues in regards of exit velocity with Joey Gallo of the Texas Rangers. The fact that Aaron Judge is hitting the ball harder than last year is a great sign.

The launch angle is where we see the major decrease. In 2017 his average launch angle was at an impressive 15.8 degrees and has dropped this year to 11.3. So what does that really mean? In order to make sense of of we will compare Aaron Judge’s launch angle to the other Major league home run leaders.

Player Comparison

Name Average Launch Angle Exit Velocity Home Runs Average Strikeouts
Aaron Judge 11.3 96.5 20 .277 103
Mike Trout 16.8 92.5 23 .325 68
J.D. Martinez 8.6 94.7 23 .325 76
Nelson Cruz 13.4 95.7 20 .270 52
Joey Gallo 22.6 96.5 18 .191 111

 

As you can tell from the chart is that there is a wide range in regards to launch angles and these 5 prolific home run hitters. J.D. Martinez’s launch angle is only 8.6 and Joey Gallo’s is as high as 22.6. In comparison, the MLB average is 10.8. The one constant among these home run hitters is the exit velocity. All five are close to the highest in the league. The league average for exit velocity is 87.3.

Conclusion:

Although Aaron Judge’s launch angle has dramatically decreased in comparison to last year I do not see cause for concern. He is not currently on pace for the 52 home runs he hit the year prior but one hot month (last September he hit 15 home runs) will get him there. I believe he will finish right around where he ended up last year and be in the MVP running once again.

 

So why the current dip in home runs? It’s rather simple, it’s baseball.

 

Why Aaron Judge Needed Wednesday’s Clutch Homerun Badly

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All Rise!! New York Yankees‘ Aaron Judge is at it again, and this time was a sweet bomb to deep center field to seal the fate of the Toronto Blue Jays.

The question is: Do we have a new Mr. Clutch in our presence?

Judge’s performance thus far in the season:

In 2017, Judge presented the primary source of power for the Yankees on game-day, now, they have added several stars to compliment the heavy hitter. Despite the struggles of Giancarlo Stanton, it seems as if he’s finally finding his groove in the lineup, smacking home-runs in two of the last three games.

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Judge is currently hitting .274, only .01 less than his 2017 totals. He currently sits at 17 home-runs, which would land him at 51 on the season if you triple his totals to equal about 155 games (including rest days). One of the more interesting statistics is his strikeout totals, as he’s on pace to finish the year with 252, which is 44 more than his previous season. While it is known that Judge strikes out often, this would be a ‘major’ increase, especially after working on seeing the ball more efficiently throughout the offseason.

Despite those totals, Judge has been on the back-end of a “not clutch” narrative, as he’s struggled late in games when his team needs him most. But, this wasn’t the case on Wednesday, as he took hold of a hanging pitch that was sent far into the abyss.

https://twitter.com/BarstoolHubbs/status/1004560421976764416

Here’s another one for our troubles!

For Judge, this was a major confidence booster, and it might have been needed as he’s been an inconsistent hitter lately. Hopefully, it can help him cut back on his strikeouts and help his team in more ways than just hitting moonshots. Interestingly enough, he’s on pace for 180 hits this season, which is a 26 hit increase from 2017.

New York Yankees To Face Off Against Dull Kansas City Bats (Game 2)

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While I wait impatiently for the lineup for tonight’s New York Yankees game against the Kansas City Royals to be posted, I’ll give you a little advanced scouting on KC’s hitting (or lack thereof). I’m only doing this to prove a point: STRIKEOUTS ARE NOT THAT BAD, AND BATTING AVERAGE DOESN’T MATTER. Whenever I hear Aaron Judge‘s or Giancarlo Stanton‘s strikeout tendencies being used in a negative light, I cringe. Here’s why.

The Royals lineup is below average at best. They can hit for average as they currently are tied for 4th in the league with a .260 team BA. Another thing they do well is avoiding the strikeout. With a team total of 302 K’s, they have the lowest number in the league. The problem is that this ability to hit for average and put the ball in play hasn’t gotten them anywhere, as they rank 23rd with only 173 runs scored. A big reason for this is a way-too-big chunk of their hits are singles. The Royals are 5th worst in the majors with just 117 extra base hits.

The New York Yankees have one of the most powerful lineups in baseball. Keep up with breaking news, broken bats, and daily updates on your favorite team! Sign up to our free newsletter to get premium Yankees content straight to your email.

Watch Salvador Perez ground into an inning-ending double play:

Despite that low OPS, they have been somewhat adept at getting on base somehow, as they rank 13th in baseball with a .323 OBP. That isn’t because of plate discipline, however. Their 7.6% walk rate circles the drain among the league’s worst, ranking 26th in that category. Probably the most deflating aspect of this offense the fact that they lead the league in double plays grounded into, as well as doing so with runners in scoring position.

The lineup itself isn’t exactly a barren wasteland, with 5 regulars hitting above .270. On the other hand, they have only one player with double digit homers (Mike Moustakas – 10 HR), and only two with an OPS north of .800 (Moustakas and Jorge Soler). They rank 18th in OPS, 17th in wOBA, and 21st in wRC+.

What this all boils down to is the Royals offense just wants to put the ball in play. Just make contact! No free outs! Good ol’ fashioned baseball! That doesn’t work anymore though, fellas. The better hitting teams have finally gotten on board with the notion that if you focus on hitting for power by working the count, waiting for a better strike to hit, and swinging at that strike with an upward trajectory to produce a higher launch angle, you will win ballgames. You will definitely strikeout more, but you’ll walk more as well, and in the end you’ll score more runs.

Or you could be like the Royals, let opposing pitchers go deep into games with lower pitch counts, kill rallies with double play balls instead of the K, and find your team near or at the bottom of the worst division in baseball.

Preview: LHP Gio Gonzalez Versus The Bronx Bombers

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When the New York Yankees play in Washington, D.C against the Nationals on Tuesday, it’ll be a matchup of two of baseball’s hottest teams. LHP Gio Gonzalez will be on the mound for the Nationals against the Yankees’ RHP Masahiro Tanaka.

Gonzalez hasn’t faced the Yankees in inter-league play since 2015. For his career, he has a 1-5 record with a 6.65 ERA in eight games against the Yankees and with that record in mind, he should be in for a rude awakening against the current incarnation of the Bronx Bombers.

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Gonzalez, 32, has been with the Nationals for six seasons and becomes a free agent this fall. He has been an extremely durable pitcher over his career, only once going on the 15-day disabled list back in 2014. He’s a two time All-Star and finished third in 2012 and sixth in 2017 for the Cy Young Award.

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According to MLB.com, recently Gonzalez has been on a roll, allowing only two runs and striking out 21 in his past 18 innings of work. He has a 4-2 record with a 2.22 ERA in eight games this season.

Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post writes that where Gonzalez was once a hard-thrower, blowing fastballs by hitters, his average fastball velocity has diminished over the past few seasons and he began modifying his approach last season.

Gonzalez told Castillo that in ’17 he became a pitcher, not a just a thrower:

“Last year was a huge adjustment point,” Gonzalez said. “Last year I was actually pitching. I wasn’t trying to throw it. I understand that I have to be a pitcher. And that’s what it was. I don’t have to throw hard to get outs, and last year proved it. You just have to locate.”

Gonzalez has adjusted his repertoire to increase the use of his change-up (83 mph) and curve ball (76 mph), which Brooks Baseball describes as having “exceptional bite,” along with his sinker (90 mph) and a four seam fastball (90 mph).

Gonzalez will be facing a lineup unlike any other in Major League Baseball—- four hitters have ten home runs or more on the season: Aaron Judge (11), Giancarlo Stanton (10), Didi Gregorius (10) and Gary Sanchez (10).

Coley Harvey of ESPN writes of the historical significance of this accomplishment:

“Before this year, the Yankees had never had four players hit 10 or more home runs by the team’s 40th game of a season — or by the 50th game, for that matter.”

On the season, for example, Stanton is hitting .457 against left-handed pitchers with seven homers and he punished lefty Brett Anderson of the Athletics on Sunday going 4-4, including a home run and three RBIs.

Stanton also has a more than a passing familiarity with Nationals Park.  According to Fox Sports, he has a .287/.366/.651 slash line in Nationals Park and in 55 career games there  has 20 home runs.

Left-handed batter Gregorius is likewise having success against lefties this season, hitting .268 with 2 homers.

There are those who predict a Yankees-Nationals World Series in ’18. Tuesday’s matchup of these two powerhouse clubs may just have that October feel to it!