Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash announced after their game four loss that Tyler Glasnow will start the decisive game five against the New York Yankees. This comes as a bit of a shock as Glasnow pitched last on Tuesday and will be on just two days rest.
Glasnow threw 93 pitches over five innings on Tuesday, striking out 10 and picking up the win. In the regular season, Glasnow had a 5-1 record with a 4.08 ERA. The Yankees will be starting their ace, Gerrit Cole, on just three days rest. He threw 95 pitches in Monday’s game one win.
Since both starters will be on short rest, it’s uncertain how deep they will go into the game. Deivi Garcia could be an option to piggyback off Cole if needed, and Blake Snell could do the same for Glasnow. With the game being a win or go home situation for both teams, just about every pitcher will be available for both teams. Each squad has their bullpens relatively rested, but Chad Green, Zack Britton, and Aroldis Chapman did see over an inning of work each for the Yankees.
The Yankees were able to stave off elimination in game four with a 5-1 victory. Luke Voit and Gleyber Torres each had mammoth home runs, while Kyle Higashioka had a pair of hits and an RBI. DJ LeMahieu also picked up two hits and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. The Rays scored their lone run on a fielders choice in the third inning.
First pitch of game five is set for 7pm ET from Petco Park in San Diego. Brian Anderson and Ron Darling will have the call on TBS.
The New York Yankees were unable to follow-up their ALDS game one victory over the Tampa Bay Rays with another win, dropping game two by a score of 7-to-5.
One of the headlines of the game was the poor performance from home-plate umpire CB Bucknor. He’s infamous for poor calls, and Tuesday’s game was no exception. The calls were brutal for both teams, but seemingly more so for the Yankees. He screwed the Yankees in big parts of the game. Check out this call on a pitch to Gleyber Torres in the ninth inning:
As bad as the umpiring was, it wasn’t the only reason the Yankees lost. The umpiring certainly contributed to it, but it was by no means the only reason for the loss.
Aaron Boone sent rookie Deivi Garcia out to start the game, the first postseason start of Garcia’s young career. But within three pitches, JA Happ was warming in the bullpen and came in after just one inning of work by Garcia. The Yankees were trailing 1-0 after one inning, but they had planned on having Happ piggy-back off Garcia early.
Happ isn’t comfortable in relief, and he’s on eight days rest. The hope was to take advantage of lefties in the Rays lineup by throwing the curveball of pitching Happ. The Yankees played with fire on this one, and got burnt. Happ gave up four runs in 2.2 innings, setting the tone for the rest of the game.
Should Happ have been better? Absolutely. But, in his defense, pitching in relief isn’t always very comfortable for starters, especially after long rest. Pitchers get in a rhythm of starting every five days. His post-game interview expressed his displeasure of coming out of relief.
JA Happ says he told the Yankees and Aaron Boone he would have preferred to start instead of coming out of the bullpen:
And now that the Yankees burnt two starters in an already depleted rotation in just one game, the team could have serious pitching problems in a potential game five. The speculation is that the Yankees will likely set Jordan Montgomery as the game four starter, but who starts game five? Gerrit Cole on three days rest? Garcia?
The other massive issue with Tuesday’s game was that the team struck-out 18 times. Does having a bad umpire affect your approach and the pitches that you swing at? Absolutely. But regardless of the umpire, 18 strikeouts in unacceptable. They only got five hits. That can’t happen, nonetheless in the postseason.
Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez looked lost all night, combining to go 0-for-9 with six strikeouts. Their at-bats were short with both players taking massive cuts each swing. They didn’t have a base-hit approach. They wanted to hit 500 foot home runs.
The only thing that the Yankees can take away from game two is the performance of Aaron Hicks and Giancarlo Stanton. Both players were great for the second-straight night; Stanton going yard twice while Hicks walked twice and picked up a hit.
Everyone in the Yankees clubhouse needs to erase game two from their memories completely. The game was just flat-out ugly in every aspect for them.
When they wake up on Wednesday, the Yankees have a three-game series facing them. Masahiro Tanaka, historically their best postseason pitcher, is on the mound. If the Yankees want to advance to the ALCS for the third time in four years, they desperately need to win game three against the Rays.
The New York Yankees have announced their 28-man roster for the ALDS against the Tampa Bay Rays. With the exception of just one switch, the roster will remain the same as the Wild Card Series.
The Yankees have announced their 28-man roster for the 2020 ALDS vs. Tampa Bay pic.twitter.com/Fkc6Cjduf4
The team added Michael King in exchange for Erik Kratz. For the Wild Card Series, the Yankees carried three catchers and one less pitcher since the series would only go two or three games. Now that it’s the divisional series, the series is five games long, and all in consecutive days.
Unlike other years, there will be no breaks between games two and three, and between games four and five. Those off-days would be used for travel, but since the series is in San Diego in a bubble, there’s no travel and need for those days. Game five if needed will be played on Friday.
Because of all the games being played in a row, there’s even more of a need for pitchers. Traditionally, teams can get away with throwing just their high-leverage pitchers. But this year, the depth of teams’ pitching will be tested to the max. Come the ALCS, all seven games of that series will be played in a row. We won’t see any off-days in a series until the World Series with the traditional format for off-days.
By adding King, it gives the Yankees long-relief depth. It’s also not impossible that he starts a game, as we only know of Gerrit Cole and Masahiro Tanaka starting games.
The 2020 postseason is certainly an interesting one, but it’s as exciting as ever. Game one between the Yankees and Rays starts at 8pm ET on TBS.
Entering the American League Wild Card Series, one of the biggest questions facing Aaron Boone and the New York Yankees was who was going to play left-field. Boone trusted his gut, and went with Brett Gardner. He’s more experienced, and he knew how to play the wall in left at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Also, Gardner began to heat up at season’s end.
Boone’s decision to play Gardner over Clint Frazier paid off as he was a contributing factor in the Yankees sweep over the Indians. In game one, Gardner went 3-for-5 with with a home run and three runs batted in. He struck out just once and added a double.
Game two saw him go hitless, but he got on base twice with walks and scored once in a game that the Yankees won by just one.
So, although Frazier was by far the better player in the regular season, it may be Gardner getting all the at-bats in the postseason. And unfortunately for Frazier, it isn’t really his fault. He’s stayed hot, but Gardner’s finally playing really well and his experience is unparalleled.
However, we may see Frazier against lefties and in pinch-hit scenarios. He pinch-hit in game two, but was struck-out on three pitches. Believe it or not, but it was just his first postseason at-bat.
Unless Gardner suddenly goes cold, it’s hard to see Frazier starting unless a lefty is on the mound. What Boone has done so far has worked, and it’s led the Yankees to wins. And for Gardner, he’s playing like his life depends on it. His contract expires after this season, and he’d like to come back for another season in the Bronx.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred after a contentious preseason caused by the coronavirus and bickering between the baseball owners and players, Manfred finally put together a 60 game imposed baseball season, with no fans in the stands, prorated pay for the players, and a health protocol that for the most part has worked out successfully. The plan put forth also included an expanded postseason where sixteen teams would meet in the Wild Card round. It would be the first time teams would have air travel outside of their divisions.
Late in the season, the format for how the postseason would be played was announced. After the Wild Card round which would be played at the home park of the highest winning percentage team would be played in a “bubble,” meaning the only travel would be from the hotel to the park and back. The bubble would remain until the conclusion of the World Series. It also provided that the Divisional Series would be played in four parks only. For the AL those parks would be Petco Field in San Diego and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. For the NL the two Texas MLB parks would be used and for the World Series the newly built Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
The AL Wild Card Series:
The New York Yankees at the Cleveland Indians: The winner was the New York Yankees who sweep the Indians in two games. In the first game, the Yankee ace Gerrit Cole completely dominated the Indians, pitching seven innings, allowing two runs while striking out thirteen Indians and walking none. The win was also off of the presumptive Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber, who only went 4.2 innings while giving up seven runs to the Yankee powerhouse.
The Houston Astros at the Minnesota Twins: The winner was the Houston Astros that swept the Twins in two games. The Astros have had a pitiful regular season with several pitching injuries. Only because of the expanded postseason were they able to reach the Wild Card round. Fortunately, they faced the Twins who for one reason or another haven’t played well in the postseason. Last year the Yankees swept them in the Divisional series.
The Toronto Blue Jays at the Tampa Bay Rays: The winner was the Tampa Bay Rays in another Wild Card sweep at Tropicana Field. On September 23, the Rays won their first AL East title since 2010. The Rays dominated the New York Yankees in the regular season taking 8 of 10 games played. The Toronto Blue Jays without a home park to play in due to the Canadian government not allowing them to play at Rogers Center finally selected Sahlen Park in Buffalo where they played very well. They did not play well away, sinking them to third in the division.
The Chicago White Sox at the Oakland Athletics: The winner was the Oakland Athletics in three games. In game one, Lucas Giolito pitched a fine game giving up only one run in seven innings. The second game was taken by the Athletics when the got ahead 4 runs in the first two innings and the White Sox couldn’t catch up. The third game was the rubber match and elimination game, which was won by the Athletics 6-4.
The AL Divisional Matchups
With the results in the New York Yankees will face the dread Tampa Bay Rays at Petco Park in San Diego. The Houston Astros will face the Oakland Athletics are Dodger Stadium. The winner of those two matchups goes on to the American League Championship at Globe Life Park in Texas.
The New York Yankees vs. the Tampa Bay Rays
On Monday at 8:07 pm ET, at Petco Park, the Yankees will face the Rays in a five-game series to determine who will go on to the ALCS. These are two teams that have bad feelings toward each other. The rival has been building for years and came to a head this season when the Rays took 8 of 10 games from the Yankees. Adding to the tension the Yankee’s Aroldis Chapman bonked a Ray’s player in the last game of the year between the two teams.
The Yankees were 33-27 on the season winning most of their games at Yankee Stadium. But overall it was a rocky season filled with ups and downs and injuries. In their last 10 games, they went 4-6. Gerrit Cole has been their best pitcher and dominated the Indians in the Wild Card Series, he will start the first game of the Divisional series. Cole is a hardened veteran in postseason play. The Tampa Bay Rays also completed their full 60 games, playing well all season. They ended the regular season hot going 8-2 in their last 10 games. For Cole’s part in the season the Yankees won his first start against the Rays, but lost his last two starts.
Strategies: The Yankees will want to score runs early for starter Cole so he can get out of the game with as few pitches as possible. If a game five is needed Cole will be the likely starter in a game five on three days rest, something he has never done, but would probably be better than the other choices. Mashiro Tanaka and J. A. Happ must pitch well and give the Yankees a chance to take the series early. The Yankee Line up has to be alive and hit home runs.
The Tampa Bay Rays will want to continue their pitching dominance concentrating on the strike zone and getting their outs with soft pitches out of the zone. The Rays in their series this season with the Yankees have hot powered them hitting 16 home runs to the Yankees 13, how that will turn out a neutral stadium is anyone’s guess. With the tension behind these two teams, any unintentional or intentional player being hit could cause the series to boil over. Without a doubt, the series between these two teams will be the ALDS series to watch. The Yankees will be the home team in the first two games. The series will be televised on TBS.
The Houston Astros against the Oakland Athletics
The Houston Astros are not the team the Yankees faced in 2019. Absent Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole, who is now a Yankee, the Astros pitching advantage is gone. In addition, the Astros are not the hitting team they were. Every single Astro player from the regular lineup is hitting far below their 2019 batting average and Astro star Jose Altuve has been just horrible this year. Could it be with the MLB eye on them, they are not playing with any electronic advantages.
The two teams in their 10 game match this season, the Athletics won 7 of the ten games. Like the Yankees and Rays, these two teams don’t like each other very much either. Afterall, Oakland’s pitcher Mike Fiers, a former Astros pitcher — is the player who initially called out Houston’s sign-stealing antics, setting all of this offseason’s fallout in motion. Earlier in the season after an A’s player was hit by a ball they charged the Astros dugout, suspensions followed. Both of these ALDS series should be an exciting game to watch for fans of any of the teams.
During the ten games played between the Astros and A’s during the regular season, the A’s managed not to pitch Fiers. The ducking and hiding may not work so well this time, as this best-of-five ALDS will be played without any days off in between games. If the series goes to five games, the A’s would have to pitch him at some point, wouldn’t they? They’ll probably try and avoid it as much as they can, so it’ll be interesting to see how that goes. Neither team has announced their starting pitcher. The game will at 3:07 pm ET, on Monday on TBS.
If the New York Yankees win their series and the Houston Astros win their series, it would put the teams in a rematch of the 2019 postseason when the Yankees believed that the Astros, proven cheats, may have continued to cheat. If that is the setup, the ALCS could be more contentious then the ALDS. One thing is for sure if the Yankees stay in it, it will be the most exciting postseason in recent memory.
With just three games left in the regular season, the New York Yankees are sitting fifth in the American League and second in the AL East. Although the team is locked into the postseason, a lot can still happen with seeding.
The team sits two games back of the White Sox for fourth in the American League. Fourth place is significant as that would be enough to host the Wild Card round. If the Yankees finish fifth, it would mean that the team plays the Wild Card series completely on the road. And with an 11-18 record away from home, it’s even more important the Yankees get fourth. But to get there, they would need a sweep of the Marlins and a Cubs sweep of the White Sox. They would also need at least two losses from the Indians, who face the Pirates.
But even if the Yankees don’t get the fourth seed, there’s no guarantee that they will play the White Sox. The AL Central is yet to be decided, with the White Sox, Twins, and Indians all within two games of each other. The Yankees will play whoever finishes second in the AL Central, if they finish fifth.
However, the Yankees don’t have the fifth seed locked up just yet. The Blue Jays sit just two games back of them, and a Marlins sweep of the Yankees and a Blue Jays sweep of Orioles. That would give the Yankees the eighth seed, facing either the Rays or the AL Central winner. The Twins currently lead the central, but that could change.
For everything to work out in the Yankees favor this weekend, they just need to keep on their own path and sweep the Marlins. Losing games puts them in a worse position and matches them against tougher teams.
On Monday, the New York Yankees begin a crucial four-game set against the Toronto Blue Jays in Buffalo. The team is looking to run down the Rays in the final week of the season in attempt to win the AL East. The Yankees sit 3.5 games back with seven games left to play, while the Rays have just six.
Although the Yankees didn’t win the series finale against the Boston Red Sox on Sunday, they were able to clinch a postseason spot for the fourth straight season with a Mariners loss to the Padres.
With the MLB postseason happening in a “bubble”, the Yankees are being forced to quarantine in hotels starting a week before the postseason. That means that the quarantine officially starts for the team in their Buffalo hotel, and the team will remain in hotels until their postseason elimination. Even when they are in New York for the final series of the regular season this weekend, they must quarantine in a hotel. Team members can only go to the ballpark from the hotel.
If the postseason were to begin today, the Yankees would be the five seed, and would play the Minnesota Twins in the wild-card round. The newly added round will be a three game series, with all games being played at the highest seed. The ALDS will be hosted at Dodger Stadium and Petco Park in California, with the ALCS being hosted at Petco Park. The first three series will be played with no off-days.
The World Series will be played at Globe Life Field in Arlington, the Rangers home field. Unlike the other series, the Fall Classic will have the traditional 2-3-2 format with off-days. The Rangers won’t make the postseason, confirming that all series will be played at a neutral field.
Although the postseason will look different in 2020, the Yankees are getting healthy and ready to chase a 28th ring.
One of the New York Yankees biggest storylines of the 2020 season was the struggles of Gary Sanchez. He looked absolutely lost most days and was even benched at times.
But suddenly, Sanchez has finally hit his stride. Just a week and a half away from the postseason, the Yankees are starting to see the Gary Sanchez that they need.
Sanchez has just 21 hits on the season, but seven of which came just this past week. He’s bat .292 with three home runs and nine runs batted in this week. On Friday, he hit a two-out, game-tying home run in the ninth inning against the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees would go on to win the game in extras, extending their win-streak to nine games.
Another big stat over the past week is a 1.162 OPS for him, meaning he’s getting on base and driving in runs. Over a third of his RBIs have been within the last week as well.
Things are looking up for the New York Yankees. Entering last Saturday, Sanchez entered with a .125 batting average, and has since raised it by over 30 points. Not just that, but the team is healthy again, making Sanchez feel more comfortable in the lineup. In a weeks span, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gio Urshela have all returned from injury.
And as the team has gotten healthier, the team’s gotten hotter. Just two weeks ago, it wasn’t even certain if the Yankees would make the postseason. They were trending downwards and were not healthy. But now, the team’s magic number is down to just two, meaning they can clinch as early as Saturday night.
With a healthy squad and a hot Gary Sanchez, the New York Yankees are looking very dangerous as the postseason nears.
MLB and the MLBPA (baseball player’s association) have reportedly come to an agreement that will have postseason games at bubble locations. Both Ken Rosenthal of The Atlantic and Jess Passan of ESPN has reported the details, although an official announcement by MLB will not be made until later today.
The Wild card series for seeds 1-4 will be held at home parks for all three-game series. The American League Divisional series will be played in the bubble at Petco Park and Dodger Stadium. The ALCS will be played at Petco Park. The National League Divisional series will play at MinuteMaid Park and Globe Life Field. The NLCS will be held at Globe Life Field. The World Series will play entirely at the brand new Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
On March 31, 2020, a new era for the Texas Rangers began with the opening of Globe Life Field in Arlington. The beautiful baseball-only facility serves as the centerpiece of a 270-acre complex that solidifies Arlington, Texas as an entertainment giant in the Southwest. The beautiful new stadium has wonderful amenities, and is a beautifully designed stadium with a retractable roof. Postseason viewers won’t have to worry about rain causing delays.
Many New York Yankees fans were hoping that many of the games would be played at the Stadium in the Bronx. Depending on how the rest of the season turns out, the Yankees may see the wild card game between the Yankees and the yet to be determined opponent at Yankee Stadium.
As more information becomes available, you will find it here on EmpireSportsMedia.com. Depend on EmpireSportsMedia.com for all the latest new for New York Market sports.
Gary Sanchez was supposed to be the next great catcher for the New York Yankees, but so far things have not panned out. He was stellar in his first two seasons, batting a combined .283 with 53 home runs and 133 RBIs between 2016 and 2017. However, the last three years have been absolutely dismal. In the Aaron Boone era, Sanchez has bat just .196 and has struggled to stay healthy.
Current Philadelphia Phillie and two-time all-star JT Realmuto is a free agent at years end. He was traded to the Phillies prior to the 2019 season from the Miami Marlins. Should the Yankees pursue him in the off-season?
Realmuto, 30, has always been a very reliable and consistent option. You know what you’re going to get from him, and he stays healthy. He’s played at least 120 games in each of his five full seasons, and has bat in the .270s in each of his last three years. He hits home runs, drives in runs, and always sits above an .800 OPS.
Also, Realmuto is a reliable defender, coming off his first gold glove award in 2019. He has a career 36% caught stealing rate, and a fielding percentage well over 99%.
Stats show that Realmuto is a significantly better player than Gary Sanchez. With Realmuto hitting the open market, this may be the Yankees best chance over the next few years to land a stud catcher. Although Sanchez has struggled the last three years, he may succeed somewhere else if the team were to trade him. The team could get a nice package back if they traded him.
Will the Yankees pursue JT Realmuto this offseason, or will they continue to stick with Gary Sanchez?
