Let's talk about the Yankees

[Coach]

ALDS

Royals-Yankees ALDS times:

Game 1: Saturday at 5:38 p.m. CT
Game 2: Monday at 6:38 p.m. CT
Game 3: Wednesday at 6:08 p.m. CT (or 7:08 if LAD-SD is a sweep)
Game 4: Thursday at 7:08 p.m. CT
Game 5: next Saturday at 7:08 p.m. CT

— Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) October 4, 2024

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

How's your pitching going to line up? I assume Wacha/Ragans/Lugo?

If yall can steal game 1, you're really in nice shape to get 'em.

Yankees pitchers are super erratic. Rodon is always a time bomb waiting to explode. Cole is generally consistent but has blowups from time to time. Gil is probably the wild card because he’s young and may not be able to handle late season runs.

And Gil and rodon will force the Yankees to tap into the bullpen which really lacks depth.

[wazu]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

How's your pitching going to line up? I assume Wacha/Ragans/Lugo?

If yall can steal game 1, you're really in nice shape to get 'em.

I think this is the presumed pitching order. Only alternative would be if they had Ragans pitch on short rest Saturday. That would mean that Ragans/Lugo could cover 4 of the 5 starts. Not sure if that's an option, but Ragans did only throw 80 pitches on Tuesday.

[smithandrew051]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

How's your pitching going to line up? I assume Wacha/Ragans/Lugo?

If yall can steal game 1, you're really in nice shape to get 'em.

Wacha is the perfect guy for game 1 imo.

I think Judge is probably starting to feel the pressure to get to the World Series.

If Wacha can settle the Royals down early, you never know.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by wazu

I think this is the presumed pitching order. Only alternative would be if they had Ragans pitch on short rest Saturday. That would mean that Ragans/Lugo could cover 4 of the 5 starts. Not sure if that's an option, but Ragans did only throw 80 pitches on Tuesday.

Short rest starts are historically iffy as hell in the post-season.

All in the name of maybe getting an extra start for Lugo instead of Wacha? Eh, I probably wouldn't go that route. Especially when, as noted, Rodon and Gil are prone to blowups.

Ultimately if those turn into pitching duels, y'all are probably in trouble anyway.

So I'd just stick with my ordinary rest. And really, Wacha is essentially Lugo with a little less stamina and consistency anyway. Very similar pitcher.

I wonder if he might just try to be really off-speed heavy and try to steal a game pitching backwards. Sometimes in a one-off matchup you can get away with that.

Bottom line is that the Yankees need Juan Soto to be the best player in the series. Better than Judge and better than Witt. Because Soto, when he's locked in, can hit ANYTHING. He can take your best pitchers best pitch and deposit it into RF.

If he's a complementary part in this series, that's just not going to be good enough. If his fingerprints aren't all over this series, NYY could well lose it. And if they are, I just don't think the Royals have the lineup depth to overcome it.

Salvy can be a bit of a nightmare in the postseason when he faces a lot of guys with power breaking pitches. Pasquantino is a good, not great, player who's probably still knocking rust off.

The rest of the lineup is just a little mis-cast. They're all 1, maybe 2 spots further up the order than they oughta be. I mean Massey, Melendez, Garcia, Isbel, Renfroe and Velaquez isn't exactly a post-season ready group. That's a bunch of guys with a sub .700 OPS and that's gonna be tough to carry 2/3 of the offense. I guess y'all are starting DeJong and Pham now? Both guys are streaky as hell but can really bring some juice when they're hot. And can both be complete black holes when they aren't.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by smithandrew051

Wacha is the perfect guy for game 1 imo.

I think Judge is probably starting to feel the pressure to get to the World Series.

If Wacha can settle the Royals down early, you never know.

Yankees haven't seen him yet this year. They only faced him once last season and he pitched well. He faced them twice in 2022 and pitched even better then.

Anything before that's probably worthless. So they don't have much experience against him, especially of late, and what little experience they do have has been largely negative.

He could get 'em. I don't think you want him going a 3rd time through the lineup but if he can give you 5 pretty clean innings, you're in nice shape.

[RedinTexas]

Originally Posted by Coach

I saw something a few years back where Gossage was talking about this home run. If you watch the video you can see Gossage flinch when Brett hits the pitch. Gossage said the contact was so loud that he thought someone had fired a gunshot.

[IowaHawkeyeChief]

Originally Posted by jjchieffan

I guess that you can look at that way. But I'm looking at it as the divisional is where they belong. If it wasn't for that crazy 7 game losing streak, they would have overtaken Cleveland for the division crown. They did so well all year. Then, when the division was theirs for the taking, they fell apart. If they can be the team that we saw most of the year and the past 2 games, I like their chances. Defeat the Yankees, then we can talk about house money. I know. They lost 100 games last year and that turn around has been absolutely amazing. Nobody expected the Royals to make the postseason, much less make it to the ALDS when the year started. But even by the all star break, we had started to believe. And when September arrived, don't tell me that you didn't have hopes of winning the division. I know I did. But 7 straight losses. 3 of them to the Guardians, sealed their fate to the wildcard. I'll certainly take it. But I want more. I want to see the Yankees and they're $260M payroll exit the postseason at the hands of our small market $100M payroll team. I want to see Bobby Witt Jr hit a grand slam home run to win the 3rd game and crush their souls. Then, I will join you in the talk about house money.

Vinny is back... Offense will come around! LFG!

[RedinTexas]

Originally Posted by Dartgod

I'll never forgive Chris Chambliss for breaking 15-year-old Dartgod's heart in 1976.

I was 15 too, and as bad as that was, 1977 was worse. We had the series all but won and gagged at the end. We totally crapped all over ourselves and handed that series to the Yankees.

[smithandrew051]

If we steal Game 1, I feel great.

Ragans on the mound for Game 2. Absolute must-win for the Yankees at that point.

KC will be insane for Game 3 if we come home tied or better.

[DJJasonp]

Originally Posted by Chiefspants

Required viewing:

I became a Royals fan in 2003, at a time when it was a tradition for the team to lose 100 games. My Mom did an incredible job of being a Royals historian for me, explaining how, believe it or not, the Royals used to be a powerhouse and a blood-hated rival with the evil empire Yankees, While I soon came to despise the Yankees for outspending every team in baseball to collect the game’s most talented players - I could never imagine the Royals ever facing them in October.

My mom and I watched a Royals playoff win together for the first time today (I was in college during the runs in 14-15, and the two games we watched together were both losses). This weekend, we’ll get to watch the Royals and Yankees face off again for the first time in 44 years.

i was 7 years old......and I still remember that (and other series) with the hated yankees.

To this day, brett's 3rd deck shot in the 80 playoffs off of Goose Gossage is my all-time favorite sports moment.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by 2112

This is what led to that

Lol they were dirty

There was no attempt even at a slide

[tredadda]

Saw this last night and it was awesome. Recommend it if no one here has seen it.

[TribalElder]

Will really enjoy watching the Royals pound the **** out of the Yankees

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by smithandrew051

Wacha is the perfect guy for game 1 imo.

I think Judge is probably starting to feel the pressure to get to the World Series.

If Wacha can settle the Royals down early, you never know.

Yeah, playoffs are a funny animal because if you start your career off hot, it buys you immunity for a decade. If you don’t, we see great players press. That goes double for any players with small sample size. Guys like Mike trout who get these at bats once in a blue moon have to make every at bat count. And now he has the reputation as an elite player who folds in big moments.

. I feel like judge has had a pretty average playoff career but being an mvp player for a recently underperforming playoff team , the pressure is really on him.

[smithandrew051]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Yeah, playoffs are a funny animal because if you start your career off hot, it buys you immunity for a decade. If you don’t, we see great players press. That goes double for any players with small sample size. Guys like Mike trout who get these at bats once in a blue moon have to make every at bat count. And now he has the reputation as an elite player who folds in big moments.

. I feel like judge has had a pretty average playoff career but being an mvp player for a recently underperforming playoff team , the pressure is really on him.

And that particular market he plays in isn’t exactly known for their patience and understanding with star players who don’t win rings. Ask A Rod before 2010.