Hey, Yankees: Here are some ALCS suggestions!
Carlos Rodon of the New York Yankees reacts after the first inning against the Kansas City Royals in ALDS Game 2. Credit: Jim McIsaac
At the time Aaron Boone spoke with reporters via Zoom on Saturday afternoon, Game 5 of the Tigers-Guardians ALDS was in the third inning.
So if you were expecting definitive answers about the Yankees’ plans for the ALCS, you were disappointed.
With the Yankees’ opponent still to be determined when Boone talked, the manager understandably was tight-lipped about subjects such as the Game 1 starter and what roster additions/deletions the Yankees might make before first pitch on Monday night in the Bronx.
Now that we know the Yankees will be facing the Guardians — 7-3 winners in Game 5 — here are some helpful hints that the club did not ask for. They almost never listen to me, but who knows, right?
Give Carlos Rodon the Game 1 start
Two items Boone would confirm: Gerrit Cole will start Game 2 because that lines up with his regular turn and Luis Gil will not start the opener because he is throwing a simulated game on Sunday. That leaves it to Rodon and Clarke Schmidt.
If you injected Yankees decision-makers with truth serum, they would admit they have more faith in Schmidt than Rodon in a big spot.
So why go with Rodon in Game 1? Because the Game 1 starter comes back in Game 5. The Game 3 starter — which Schmidt would be under this proposal — gets Game 7.
You cannot go into another series with Rodon as the deciding-game pitcher. The Yankees almost had to contemplate that reality in the ALDS with Rodon lined up for Game 5. That’s a big reason why it was important to finish off the Royals in four, which Cole did.
Rodon may have the most talent of any Yankees pitcher, but the lefty acknowledges that his emotions can get away from him on the mound, unlike the level-headed Schmidt. It’s a rare and brave thing to talk about publicly, so credit to Rodon.
But the way he came out as hot as a firecracker in his Game 2 start against Kansas City — wildly celebrating while striking out the side in the first — and wilted in the third and fourth innings in the Yankees’ only loss in that series should give the Yankees pause as they contemplate whether to trust the volatile Rodon with an assignment that would lead to a Game 7 start.
Restart the Stro Show
The Yankees probably will add another pitcher for the ALCS, and that should be Marcus Stroman.
Stroman wouldn’t get a start, but the righthander could be a long man. The best-case scenario for every team in the playoffs is that you never have to use the last four or five pitchers on your roster.
But in a seven-game series, there could be a situation in which Stroman would be useful. He may not have top-shelf stuff anymore, but there is no questioning Stroman’s heart, his desire to contribute something to this postseason run and his professionalism after being bypassed for the ALDS roster.
Activate the G Force a little earlier
At what point do we have to admit that just as some great players flop in the postseason, Giancarlo Stanton raises his game in October? How about now? So Boone should move Stanton up to the cleanup spot and drop Austin Wells to fifth, with ALDS line-drive machine Anthony Volpe sixth.
Stanton went 6-for-16 (.375) in the ALDS with the series’ biggest hit, the tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning of Game 3.
In his postseason career, all with the Yankees, Stanton is a .277 hitter with 12 home runs, 28 RBIs and a .987 OPS. In the regular season, his career batting average is .257 with an .871 OPS.
Oh, and some old business: It was unfathomable that Kansas City lefty Kris Bubic threw Stanton a hittable pitch on 3-and-1 with one out in the eighth inning of a tied Game 3.
Bubic came in, retired Wells and had Jazz Chisholm Jr. on deck. So why throw anything to Stanton, the one righthanded hitter in that trio and the one who can really punish you? Walk him if you have to!
Anyway, that’s a suggestion for the Royals. They hardly ever listen to me either.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.