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With the Yankees and Astros dominating their American League Division Series against the Twins and Rays respectively, are we headed to a Yankees-Astros clash in the American League Championship Series, just like in 2017? Bovada and other sportsbooks agree with this.
Back then, the Astros won a classic seven-game series to reach the World Series against the Dodgers. Will history repeat itself or have the Yankees learned from that experience? The Astros will have the home-field advantage once again, which proved to be the difference two years ago, as they won the four meetings in Houston.
The Yankees have to put an end to this trend and they have to win at least one game in Houston if they want to reach their first World Series since 2009!
It won’t be easy: the Astros were clearly the best team in the majors this season. On top of finishing with an MLB-best 107-55 record (one game better than the Dodgers), they became the first team to lead the AL with 1,671 strikeouts and also have the fewest by their own hitters (1,166).
The Houston Astros have a deadly starting rotation, led by Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Zack Greinke and Wade Miley. Verlander and Cole became the first teammates with at least 300 strikeouts in a season since Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling in 2002 and Greinke and Miley both had great seasons, although Smiley struggled in his last seven starts, going just 2-2 with a poor 9.90 ERA and a 2.40 WHIP.
Many couldn’t stop talking about how the Twins and Yankees both hit over 300 home runs during the regular season (307 by the Twins and 306 by the Yankees) but the Astros were not far behind, they were third in the majors with 288, with seven players hitting at least 21 home runs and four of them hit at least 31.
Houston’s lineup is ridiculous, Alex Bregman put MVP numbers, hitting .296 with 41 home runs and 112 RBIs, their leadoff hitter George Springer added 39 home runs and 96 RBIs and Yuli Gurriel and 2017 American League MVP Jose Altuve hit 31 home runs each. And don’t forget rookie Yordan Alvarez, who had 27 home runs and 78 RBIs in just 87 games.
The Astros do everything well. They’ve been a consistently dominant team since 2017, winning at least 100 games in each of the past three seasons and this year they have their most talented and balanced team in a long time. What will the Yankees bring to the table?
The Yankees are a very good team, 30 players down, 39 injured list stints and over 2000 player-games missed didn’t matter, their next man up mentality helped them go this far and while beating the Astros is a tough mountain to climb, if there’s one team that can do it is the Yankees. They have better personnel than they did two years ago and what they went through this season will help prepare them for this challenge.
The Bronx Bombers took their foot off the gas pedal once they secured the American League East title and they still won 103 games. Their offense and depth, along with their dominant bullpen, could take the Astros to seven games and upset them.
To me, the winner of this series will win the World Series. New York has a deep and powerful lineup and the key to them overcoming Houston’s superior starters is the play of their bench. They have to embrace the next man up mentality just like in the regular season and be savages at the plate, coming through with runners in scoring position and making smart use of their phenomenal bullpen.
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