*Photo from Pioneer Press*
Wow, October baseball in New York AND Minnesota? It's gonna be a cold one for sure. It's the bomba squad of the Minnesota Twins facing the Bronx bombers of the Yankees. This will be a hitter heavy series for sure, as both teams have over 300 homers this year. Game one of the series will take place at Yankee stadium on Friday night, where New York's James Paxton faces Minnesota's Jose Berrios. These teams last met in postseason play in the 2017 wild card game, with the Yankees emerging victorious.
The Yankees felt the wrath of bunches of injuries this year, but have prevailed and are in the playoffs. As a Red Sox fan, I have to give them that much. Their hitting core is featured by slugging catcher Gary Sanchez, an infield of Edwin Encarnacion, Gleyber Torres, DJ Lemahieu, Didi Gregorius, Gio Urshela, and Luke Voit. The outfield features Aaron Judge, Brett Gardner, Giancarlo Stanton, Clint Frazier, and Mike Tauchman. They have a scary good bullpen, led by Aroldis Chapman, Adam Ottavino, Zack Britton, and they've sent starter JA Happ to the bullpen for the playoffs. Their starting pitching has been up and down all season, but James Paxton, Luis Severino, and Masahiro Tanaka are rotation locks. CC Sabathia was left off the ALDS roster, but he could very well be in the ALCS roster if the Yankees advance. This team is good, yes, but the starting pitching has left a lot to be desired this year.
The Twins have quite a corps. Their young guns in Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, Jorge Polanco, and Eddie Rosario have bounced back in big ways this season, though Buxton is out for the rest of the year. Offseason free agent signings Nelson Cruz, CJ Cron, and Jonathan Schoop have paid off in spades. Mitch Garver has broken out as the club's top catcher behind the plate as well as with the bat. Marwin Gonzalez has had another great season, and Luis Arraez proved he belongs in the big leagues after being called up. Max Kepler has been their force in center field. Their rotation has had big years from Berrios, Jake Odorizzi, Martin Perez, and Kyle Gibson. Randy Dobnak and Devin Smeltzer have been great since being called up in September. The bullpen has been good in the second half of the year, featuring top prospect Brusdar Graterol, rookies Cody Stashak and Lewis Thorpe, closer Taylor Rogers, and trade deadline acquisitions in Sam Dyson and Sergio Romo. This team is dangerous.
I think this series will last all 5 games, and I have the Twins coming out on top. Yes, they have a bad history when playing the Yankees in the playoffs, but what separates them is starting pitching. The Twins have been much better and more consistent in that department than the Yankees this year, and that is what will put the Twins over the top.
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