THE MAIN THING TO REMEMBER IS THE YANKEES ARE A GREAT TEAM!

The Astros are scary. But... the Yankees are damn good.  And that's the balance that we have to keep in perspective.  Now you can read all the sports writers that will analyze teams and runs and pitchers and who will be on and who will be off all you want.  It means nothing.

At the end of the day it comes down to how an athlete feels, if he can figure out the edge, if they have the confidence to come through in the clutch and if they can navigate properly.  You could have the best hitter at the plate with the bases loaded, but the pitcher on the mound that night, who perhaps hadn't been too good all season suddenly recognizes how to pitch to that big hitter... and then... whatever percentages and stats you have at that moment... can get ripped up and thrown out the window.

The Yankees are a great baseball team.  They have proven all year long that with challenges comes successes.  Each player contributes in some way. Each player works to lift another up. Think about all the injuries we've had.  It really wasn't a factor even though the sports writers had us written off early on.  It's been an incredible season.  A special one.

Are the Astros good? Of course they are.  Are they feared? Some would say they are.  But they are beatable... especially with this amazing Yankees team. Even Zack Greinke thinks so. The New York Daily News writes:

"'A lot of good hitters. It's tough to get good hitters out than not as good hitters,' Greinke said."

It's a simple statement, but a very true one. Hot, good hitters nag pitchers. It doesn't matter how good a pitcher is, good hitters find the holes and get on base. Good hitters beat the shift, hit for power.... you find a way to get one... even if it's a walk. That's the Yankees.

ESPN writes:

"The Yankees face the same challenge the Cardinals did in their Game 1 -- they're not facing the Astros' best or second-best starter, but if they lose, things could get ugly with Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole lined up next. "

Maybe it gets ugly... maybe not. Both Astros pitchers are beatable.

Last time I checked Verlander got his tits lit up last start.  ESPN forgot to mention that.  Cole? His post season numbers are all over the map, from a 7.20 ERA with the Pirates in 2015 in the Wild Card game to a 6.00 ERA with the Astros in 2018 in the ALCS.

So far in this post season he has a 0.57 ERA with 2 wins.  Sure he's hot, but 2 things are going on here; We know he can fall into a bad rut... history tells us that.  Also... he hasn't faced the Yankees yet in the post season this year.  Those stats essentially mean nothing.

And let's talk about the Yankees.  The New York Post writes this:

"'Wow, I’ve never seen anything like Gleyber, especially at his age, 22, to be doing what he’s doing in the big leagues is something that’s unheard of,' Judge said Thursday at Yankee Stadium. 'When I was 22, I was playing in A-ball in Charleston, South Carolina, not nearly on as big a stage and facing the best arms in the biggest situations in the world.'”

That's a compliment to Torres from someone that knows him well. His teammate.  That's not a reporter... that's a pal.

The Ringer writes:

"To ask Severino, James Paxton, and Masahiro Tanaka to match Verlander and Cole pitch-for-pitch is to set them up to fail, but the whole idea behind assembling a bullpen as good as New York’s (or Tampa Bay’s for that matter) is to take pressure off the starters. 

Severino and Paxton in particular are power arms capable of working harder if they know from the start they’re only going to throw 70 or 80 pitches instead of 110, and establishing that as the game plan from the outset would allow Boone to minimize the weaknesses of his pitching staff.

Bookmakers have the Yankees as nearly 2-to-1 underdogs, which is an odd thing to say about a team that won 103 regular-season games, swept its first playoff series, and is, after all, the Yankees. But the Rays nearly pulled off a first-round upset using this particular formula, and the Yankees will maximize their chances of doing the same by learning from Tampa Bay’s experience."

A lot to unwrap there, but this is dead on.  The Yankees have a pen that is unstoppable. They need their starters to keep them in the game, but ultimately they can fall back onto what works best to shut the opponent down... the pen. No team has a better one.  Plus... let's not forget that you get to the Yankees pen, you will slow down in run making for the opponent, all the while allowing the Yankees hitters to do their job... knock in runs.

Roto Grinders writes:

"I like the Yankees as a +148 underdog to win this series. They’re the hotter team at this point in the season, making lightwork of a Minnesota Twins team that won 101 games. Meanwhile, the Astros struggled a bit with a 96 win Rays team that had the lowest payroll in baseball. Obviously, the Rays were no slouch, but I think most people were surprised to see the Yankees handle such an explosive Twins team with ease while the Astros struggled with a team that lacked star power. "

Another amazing point.  Yanks won't stop going hard against the Astros. In fact, they will continue to play hard, especially now that it's the ALCS.

In the end, there is one most important point and it's this... no one knows for sure what will happen in this ALCS.  It's bits and pieces of information to formulate a prediction about a playoff game. Predictions don't matter.

In the end... none of this actually matters. What matters is that the Yankees show up, feel good and are smart players.  For Houston and it's team... it's the same thing.  Many factors.... all of it out of the control of the fans.

Just have fun and watch.  Yes, the Yankees will lose a game or 2. The Astros will too.  But in the end, it's about who goes that extra mile to come out on top and make it to the World Series. A simple and obvious statement and sadly, that's all I can offer you.

Yes. the Astros are a good team... and scary.  But so are the New York Yankees.

And this is Bleeding Yankee Blue.  You know who I'm rooting for.

Go Yanks!