LIKE I SAID, BRING ON THE ASTROS!

Photo Credit: (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

So now we now know that the Yankees will be facing the Houston Astros after they eliminated the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 last night. I felt like I saw this matchup coming for more than a month now, so I named my last piece on BYB THE YANKEES CRUSH THE TWINS - BRING ON THE ASTROS! Apparently a few friends and readers decided to take exception to my title and questioning why I would assume the Astros would win their Division Series. Obviously, you cannot assume the outcoming of any game or series. Just as obvious is the fact that if the Rays had won I would be writing a VERY different article. But, seriously?? I find it hard to imagine why anyone would NOT understand how high was the likelihood that the Astros would take it.

You cannot ignore the seismic effect that the Astros bring with Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and Zack Greinke. You have three dominant starters, of which two are 20-game winners and the third an 18-game winner. They all have ERAs below 3 and WHIPs below 1 on the season. That’s what the Yankees are set to face starting tomorrow night. It’s a tall order, to be sure.

Photo Credit: CreditCreditWendell Cruz/USA Today Sports

If you listen to sports announcers and analysts, they are all talking about how with the Rays pushing the ALDS to 5 games, Gerrit Cole won’t be available until Game 3. The Yankees would face Cole in Games 3 and 7, Verlander in Games 2 and 6,  and Greinke in Games 1 and 5. That’s assuming they alk pitch on regular four days rest. To me, forcing game 5 just shifted the order of the starters. It's still the front three for two games each. Nevertheless, the Yankees still have some key advantages that I think will put them on top by the time the ALCS is over.

Photo Credit:  (Seth Wenig/AP)

The Yankees have done well against those three this season, all things considered. Historically, Verlander has struggled against the Yankees. We faced Verlander twice this season for a combined ERA of 4.15 and a combined WHIP of 1.154. Cole pitched against us once in April, throwing 7 innings and giving up 3 earned runs (ERA 3.86), 4 hits, and 2 walks (WHIP 1.000). Greinke faced the Yankees twice this year as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He did well in his first outing and lasted 5 innings in his second, allowing 2 earned runs, 2 hits, and 3 walks.

Photo Credit: USA TODAY Sports (Noah K. Murray)

The point is these guys are hittable, and the Yankees have a track record to prove it. In the hysteria of their win last night, everyone is hyper-focused on the recent dominance of their starters. Memory of the power of the Yankees’ bats seems to have faded, at least for the time being. A few days ago they were covering how impossible it seems to be to keep the Yankees from scoring runs in bunches, and how the Yankees’ pitchers kept the team who set the single season team home run record from scoring.

One thing that everyone can agree on is that this ALCS is going to be epic. The two best teams in baseball are going to go head to head, and neither team is going to go down quietly. Whoever win will have earned it. My money is on the Yankees.

--Ike Dimitriadis
BYB Contributor
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon