Why I'm Not Afraid of Tyler Glasnow Tonight

Notice I didn't do one of these for Blake Snell? There's probably a good reason for that. While I wasn't necessarily afraid of Snell, I know how tough he can be against this team with his devastating breaking stuff, so my confidence was probably as low as it has been all postseason before last night's game. A Yankees 9-3 victory later and I feel much more confident about the rest of this series, even with the Rays second best starter in Tyler Glasnow taking the mound for Tampa Bay. 

Glasnow is a great pitcher and I could not, and would not, ever take anything away from him, but that doesn't mean I have to be afraid of him tonight. The Yankees tend to do better against a pitcher that they have seen at least once, and the Bombers offense have seen the Rays right-hander three times already this season. A fourth time only sways the momentum in the Yankees offense's hands, in my opinion. The Yankees still have to go out there and do what they have to do, I am not overlooking Glasnow by any means and I am far from guaranteeing a victory, but this is most definitely not mission impossible tonight inside Petco Park. 

Glasnow has faced the Yankees three times this season, but only one of those times were when the Yankees offense was THIS healthy and firing on all cylinders. With that said, I refuse to focus on the August 31st start against New York where Glasnow fired six innings of shutout baseball, and instead I will focus on his start on August 8th inside Tropicana Field where the Yankees tagged the Rays right-hander for four runs in just 2.2 innings pitched. 

Here is what the Yankees offense has done against Glasnow career, via ESPN: 

New York Yankees Career Statistics Vs. Tyler Glasnow

PITCHER	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Mike Ford	8	2	0	0	1	2	0	2	.250	.250	.625	.875
Clint Frazier	8	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	.125	.125	.125	.250
Brett Gardner	7	0	0	0	0	0	3	5	.000	.300	.000	.300
Aaron Hicks	3	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	.333	.333	1.000	1.333
Aaron Judge	5	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.400	.400	.400	.800
DJ LeMahieu	9	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	.111	.111	.111	.222
Gary Sanchez	8	2	0	0	0	0	0	5	.250	.250	.250	.500
Giancarlo Stanton	4	2	0	0	1	2	1	0	.500	.600	1.250	1.850
Mike Tauchman	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000	.000	.000	.000
Gleyber Torres	6	2	0	0	0	1	1	3	.333	.429	.333	.762
Gio Urshela	7	1	1	0	0	3	1	1	.143	.222	.286	.508
Luke Voit	6	1	0	0	1	1	3	3	.167	.444	.667	1.111
TOTALS	76	15	1	1	3	9	9	31	.218	.289	.421	.709

Listen, I'm not taking anything away from Glasnow. He is a great pitcher and he is absolutely filthy when he is on, but he isn't the first great pitcher that is absolutely filthy when he is on that the Yankees have faced during the 2020 postseason. This offense knocked around the presumptive AL Cy Young Award winner for 2020 in Shane Bieber, they beat Carlos Carrasco who isn't who he once was, but is still a strong starter for Cleveland, and they've beaten Blake Snell as well. In my opinion, Glasnow will be just another ace-type starter that went down to a healthy, and clicking on all cylinders New York Yankees offense. 

ALDS Game 2 - New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Rays

 The New York Yankees, behind the duo of Cole World and Higgy, sent a huge message to the Tampa Bay Rays last night in Game One of the ALDS, sending Blake Snell and company home crying with a 9-3 loss to take a 1-0 series lead. Tonight for Game Two a little history, and maybe a little animosity, will be on full display as Deivi Garcia becomes the Yankees youngest postseason starter in their franchise's history at 21 years and 140 days old. One thing of note to watch out for in this one is the bad blood that still exists between these two clubs. Giancarlo Stanton put the game out of reach last night with a big grand slam, a monster shot that he kind of posed for, that the Rays pitching, specifically John Curtiss, seemingly took offense to. Will there be retaliation tonight?

Deivi Garcia made six starts this season, posting a 4.98 ERA along the way, and will make the biggest start of his young career tonight for the Bombers. Deivi will surpass Whitey Ford (1950 World Series) as the youngest starter in Yankees postseason history when he takes the mound tonight for the Yankees. 

Tyler Glasnow has already faced the Yankees three times this season, which can only help the Bronx Bombers offense in my opinion, posting a 1-1 record with a 3.77 ERA with 22 strikeouts in just 14.1 innings pitched. The Yankees have been able to get to Glasnow, take their walks, and get him out of the game while getting into the Rays bullpen, which is undoubtedly the plan again tonight. 

The game will be played at 8:10 pm ET inside San Diego's Petco Park and can be seen nationally on TBS. 

Getting to Know Petco Park in San Diego

 

Welcome to the MLB Bubble Postseason 2020. What a year 2020 has been, so it's no surprise that baseball has been kind of wonky as well this season. Major League Baseball has decided to play the remainder of the postseason in a bubble format, meaning that the best-of-five series between the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays will not be played in the Bronx, nor down in the Tampa area, but instead will be played inside Petco Park. The San Diego Padres call Petco Park home and are seemingly very familiar with the dimensions and such of the beautiful stadium out there, but the Yankees and their fans may not be as familiar. 

For all the talk on how hard it is to hit the ball out of Petco Park, the dimensions tell a little bit of a different story for me. Petco Park has a little bit of a short porch down the right field line at 322 feet, while down the left field line that 334 feet looks obtainable for these Yankees right-handed sluggers. Center field is shorter than Yankee Stadium's 408 foot target while the right-center and left-center field walls remain deep. Long story short, the Yankees may not have the opportunity to steal a "cheap" home run (and the Rays wont either), but there should still be plenty of offense to go around, in my opinion. 

For comparison, here are the dimensions at the current Yankee Stadium: 

The games will be played at 4:00 and 5:00 pm local time, which means the sun setting and the shadows that come with it will be a factor in the early innings of these games. The Yankees have spent the weekend working out during these peak times at the stadium, doing their homework on the shadows, the sun patterns, and anything else they can use to ensure a victory against their American League East rivals in this series. 

I don't believe the ballpark will be a factor in this series. The Rays always play the Yankees tough, but they are especially tough at that monstrosity that they call a home park down at Tropicana Field. With the ultimate equalizer in Petco Park becoming a reality, along with the emergence of Cole World and Higgy, I think the Yankees will be just fine throughout the ALDS. 

If Fernando Tatis Jr. can hit home run after home run out of this ballpark. and end up on a Bat Flip Brotherhood t-shirt because of it, then so can the likes of Voit, DJ, Judge and Gleyber. 

ALDS Game 1 - New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Rays

The New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays are familiar foes who both reside in the American League East Division, so this best-of-five game series should offer little in terms of surprise, right? Well you must remember that this is 2020, and in 2020 if there is a curve ball to be thrown you should expect it to either be in the dirt and 20 feet short of the plate, or up and in towards your chin. Hopefully this latest little thing is more like the former and not the latter as these two teams will enter the MLB Postseason bubble while playing inside Petco Park in San Diego, home of the San Diego Padres. The Yankees have not played inside Petco Park since the 2016 season, so sample sizes will be limited, but these two teams know each other well... and it's well known that they just don't like one another. 

Gerrit Cole has not been good against the Rays this season, let's go ahead and get this out of the way early, but many of those starts came early on in the season before Cole both found his groove, and found comfort on the mound pitching to Kyle Higashioka. No, I am not worried about his 0-1 record this season against Tampa, nor am I worried about his 4.96 ERA against them in 2020. What I am worried about is how Cole has pitched to a 1.32 ERA over 34 innings since being paired with Higgy on September 5th, hurling 47 strikeouts with just five walks. 

Blake Snell, future Yankee #2 starter, became the first pitcher in the (Devil) Rays postseason history to get through the first five innings of a game without allowing a single hit. In two starts against the Yankees here in 2020, Snell has gone 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA, striking out eight batters over eight innings pitched. Snell has handled the Yankees, but not dominated. The playoffs are a new season. 

The game will be played at 8:07 pm ET inside Petco Park in San Diego and can be seen nationally on TBS. 

Bat Flip Brotherhood, Brought to You by The Greedy Pinstripes

 Major League Baseball once said to let the kids play, but how can you let the kids play without at the same time allowing something that is considered to be a unwritten rule against baseball? Bat flipping and showing up the opposing team's pitcher in general is frowned upon, but that hasn't stopped many across the league from still making what they chose to do as a profession not only fun, but satisfying. Not every fan is a fan of the showmanship and of bat flips specifically, but for the fans who absolutely love them it sometimes feels like we are part of some secret society or something. Not a secret society, no, but a brotherhood. 

Enter the Bat Flip Brotherhood. 

In affiliation with The Greedy Pinstripes, I bring you my own personal designs for #BFB. These shirts (and more merchandise to come) are print to order and guaranteed to grab attention while you're wearing them. Will you join the brotherhood? 

Click HERE to access the Etsy store and to join the Brotherhood.

The Battle of Petco Park...

 

New York and Tampa Bay take the war to San Diego…

Yankees-Rays. I suppose this was inevitable when the Rays used their season series against the Yankees to provide the necessary separation to win the AL East. By taking 8 of 10 games, the Rays cruised to the division title by seven games over the Yankees. What does it mean? Absolutely nothing. Let the Rays celebrate the end of the Yankees’ one-year run as division champions following Boston’s reign of superiority. In the end, I’d rather have a team that is ready and prepared to play post-season baseball. I am not saying the Rays are not prepared, but I feel team-to-team, the Yankees are better. Wins against the Rays may have been difficult in the regular season but this no longer the regular season. Win or lose, I will take the Yankees over the Rays anytime, anywhere.

Speaking of anywhere, it will be weird to watch the ALDS played at Petco Park in San Diego, CA. A beautiful park, without question. I’ve been there a few times and have always enjoyed the look and ambiance of the park. A nice cool ocean breeze makes for a nice setting to play baseball. It’s not quite San Francisco, for me anyway, but an awesome stadium in its own right. Day and night in comparison to Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, FL, the warehouse the Rays call home. I like the idea of the Yankees and Rays playing their series on neutral ground. Sure, I’d love to see playoff baseball in Yankee Stadium but it’s not going to happen this year so it will be fun to watch the games next week in sunny Southern CA. At the end of the day, I’d much rather win the AL Division Series than the AL East title, even if the games had to be played in Tokyo, Japan. 

Photo Credit: Bryan Hoch, MLB.com

Giancarlo Stanton said it best, “They won the division, so they’ve got that. The full bragging rights chance is here. Shirts and hats, that doesn’t mean anything”.

In winning the AL Wild Card series with the Cleveland Indians, the Yankees impressed me with their ‘never-say-die’ attitude. I wish the team’s pitching had not put the Yankees in the position of requiring a rally to advance, but they did, and the hitters delivered. I had felt more confident and comfortable with Aaron Boone as Yankees manager in his second year than the first but, in my opinion, he regressed in this third season. When Zack Britton walked two in the crucial Game 2 of the Indian series, I didn’t like the decision to pull Britton in favor of Jonathan Loaisiga. I know, it’s easy to be a Monday morning quarterback but I didn’t like the move while it was happening. Britton, who had arguably one of the greatest relief seasons ever in 2016 with the Baltimore Orioles, remains a very trusted veteran. Despite the walks, Britton has proven time and again that he is a ‘bend but not break’ type of pitcher. For as talented as Loaisiga is or could be, he is not better than Britton in that spot. Loaisiga promptly gave up two runs which allowed the Indians to tie the score. Maybe Britton would have given up the same runs (or more), maybe not. I just know that Britton would have been my choice to finish the inning. Loaisiga’s appearance did prove one thing, there is zero confidence in Adam Ottavino right now. Bummer, I had really hoped Otto would get his act together before the playoffs to be the dominant reliever we know he can be. I want to see his wicked stuff tantalizing hitters rather than a reliever with control problems.

I am not sure the first year of pitching coach Matt Blake has been much of an improvement over the long tenure of Larry Rothschild. Rothschild was the coach the fans loved to hate, but he is the pitching coach for a team that blanked the St Louis Cardinals last night to push the San Diego Padres into a NLDS battle against their NL West rival Los Angeles Dodgers. Rothschild’s team is dangerous, loaded with good, young pitching, and ultra-talented players to back the pitching which starts with the incredible Fernando Tatis, Jr (sorry Manny).  I am sure Larry is not crying about his ejection from the Yankees at this point. The question is whether or not Blake has been better. At the moment, I’d have to say “inconclusive; results pending”. Gerrit Cole was going to be good regardless of the coach. It’s how the other pitchers perform and if there is a weakness for the Yanks heading into the ALDS, it is the starting pitching behind Cole.  If the Indians had managed to win AL Wild Card series Game 2 to push the series to a third and final game, the starting pitcher would have been J.A. Happ or Jordan Montgomery. I love Gumby but I am sorry, he doesn’t inspire great confidence and regardless of the few good games Happ has had lately, he is still, in my mind, a mediocre starting pitcher at best. I so wish the Yankees had either James Paxton or Luis Severino for the Rays series. But it is not to be, so hopefully Blake can earn his stripes by coaxing superior performances out of everybody not named Gerrit Cole.  We already know Cole will deliver. 

Photo Credit: The New York Post

The Rays feature a formidable front three with Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Charlie Morton. As great as Gerrit Cole is or as dominant as Masahiro Tanaka has been in October (excluding the Indians series), the Rays’ rotation is better. Nonetheless, the Yankees showed putting the likely 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber on the mound meant nothing when the Yankees cruised to the ALDS Game 1 win over the Indians, scoring seven runs against the young ace. Kevin Kiermaier can talk as tough as he wants to, the Yankees’ offense is simply better. The Yankees are certainly not afraid of the Rays and I think the talent will be the great separator in this series. The Yankees have momentum, they’re hungry and they know what is at stake. ‘Never say die’ will continue to resonate with this team. 

My prediction: The Yankees in five games. 

I think my biggest disappointment in the playoffs so far is that the Minnesota Twins did not give the Houston Astros a greater challenge. The Twins proved their inability to win in October is not isolated to when they are playing the Yankees. Minnesota’s thunderous bats were a concern if they had advanced to the next round but I would have preferred to see them in the ALDS over the lying, cheating Houston Astros. I am hopeful the AL West champion Oakland A’s can send the losers home early. The ALCS is too far ahead to think about, we need to worry about the ALDS and nothing more. The sooner the Astros pull off their jerseys for the final time this season, the better, regardless of who kicks their asses out the door. 

In the NL, the biggest surprise, despite the incredible play of Tatis Jr and the Padres, is the Derek Jeter, Don Mattingly led Miami Marlins. The Marlins beat the Chicago Cubs in the NL Wild Card Series and will play the Atlanta Braves this week. I do not expect the Marlins to beat the Braves, but it is a great testament to Jeter and company that they tore the Marlins down and now have them playing competitive baseball again in just a few years. It feels like they are ahead of schedule.

I’ve always admired Don Mattingly so I am glad he is at the helm as the team’s skipper for the resurgence. He has certainly paid his dues. I am sure it was very hard for him to watch superstars like Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, and Christian Yelich depart after the Jeter-led ownership group took over but he has persevered and is now reaping the rewards of success. I enjoyed Mattingly’s time as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers and was not ready to see him depart when Dodgers ownership let him go. I think Mattingly’s presence on the Dodgers solidified them as my favorite NL team and second favorite overall (I also happen to live in the LA area even if I am closer to Angels Stadium these days). I remain a Dodgers fan and think Dave Roberts has done a fine job as manager (some may disagree) but I will always wonder if Mattingly could have won a championship in LA if he had been given more time. Not that I want to see the Marlins win the World Series, but I admit I would quietly be thrilled to see Mattingly celebrating a championship. 

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Here are my predictions for the AL/NL division series:

Yankees over Rays in five games.

Athletics over Astros in four games.

Dodgers over Padres in five games.

Braves over Marlins in three games.

If the Rays do overcome the Yankees (sorry, it is a possibility regardless of how much we love the Bronx Bombers), I wonder if the Yankees would consider parting ways with Aaron Boone. I didn’t think it was possible before the season and while I don’t think this weird, tragic pandemic year should be held against anyone, Boone’s regressions are troubling. I am not sure who is a better choice out there. I am not advocating change. I like Boone and I’d certainly be happy to see him return for the 2021 season. I only raise it as a possibility if the team is unable to advance. 

I think Dave Roberts might be in the same boat. If the Dodgers underperform again, it’s going to look unfavorably upon their manager given the plethora of talent on his teams in recent years. The Padres are showing the end of the Dodgers’ dominance in the NL West is coming. This may be the best opportunity the Dodgers have to win a championship in the foreseeable future. 

A’s manager Bob Melvin continues to show why Brian Cashman wanted him as the team’s manager to replace Joe Girardi. The A’s weren’t cooperative and Melvin was never an option, but he is perhaps the best manager left in the playoffs. 

Hal Steinbrenner, this is your weekly plea to please re-sign DJ LeMahieu.

As always, Go Yankees!