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Three Keys for the Yankees to Come Back in the ALDS

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After losing the first two games of the ALDS to the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Yankees are in dire straits. If they lose just one out of their next three games against Toronto, their season is over. Gone will be not only another one of Aaron Judge’s shots at a title, but also multiple key players who have played major roles in the team’s success this year.

But it’s not over just yet. The Yankees are a much better team when playing at home, and with two games at Yankee Stadium coming up, they have a good shot at forcing the series back to Toronto for a winner-take-all Game 5. However, before that happens, they need a lot of things to go right. Here are three keys for the Yankees to pull off a comeback in the ALDS and keep their season alive.

Three Keys to a Yankees Comeback in the ALDS

1. No More Poor Pitching

Firstly, and most obviously, the Yankees need their pitching to drastically improve. They’ve surrendered an absurd 23 runs in the first two games of the series, which is unacceptable in the regular season, let alone in the playoffs. Luis Gil, who gave up two earned runs over 2 ⅔ innings, was taken out of the game in favor of a bullpen that allowed the Blue Jays to blow the game wide open. This depleted much of the bullpen for Game 2, in which Max Fried was not his usual self; if the Yankees had a reliable bullpen, this wouldn’t have been a huge issue. But, as the final score shows, it was.

New York needs not only Carlos Rodón and Cam Schlittler (if he even gets to pitch), but also the bullpen to hold down the Blue Jays and give the offense a fighting chance before the game is already over. The ‘pen looked good against the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card Series, so it’s definitely possible for them to pin down the Blue Jays’ offense. Pitching wins championships, and though the Yankees have a talented pitching staff, they have not shown up yet in the ALDS.

2. Clutch Hitting

Pitching isn’t the only problem the Yankees have had in this series. New York’s offense, the best in MLB by many metrics this season, has looked overwhelmed and outmatched. Judge, who has famously struggled in the postseason, has amassed a respectable eight hits in five games. The rest of the lineup, however, has all but disappeared. Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham, and Giancarlo Stanton (last year’s ALCS MVP), three of the team’s best hitters, have combined for 10 hits throughout the entire playoffs. Not only that, but they’ve been as unclutch as they can be; they scored just a single run in Game 1, and waited until the Blue Jays had already scored 12 times before putting a run up on the board in Game 2.

This is still a great lineup regardless, and they are certainly capable of getting back on track (though it might already be too late at this point). They’ll have to get it going against Shane Bieber in Game 3, who has faced the Yankees in the postseason twice in his career, both times with the Cleveland Guardians. It’s undoubtedly a very tough task to win three straight games in the postseason, let alone three straight elimination games, but it’s something that this team is very capable of doing.

3. Pinpoint Management

At the end of the day, the outcome of any given game is out of a manager’s hands, but their actions can certainly give their team a much better chance of winning. Yankee manager Aaron Boone has to tread very carefully during these next few games, because every decision matters tenfold in an elimination game. If a pitcher clearly doesn’t have it, he has to be taken out of the game before things get out of hand. It’s easy to say that Boone could’ve managed the bullpen a bit better in the first two games, but when you go home with just a single loss, you’ll have to worry about winning today before winning tomorrow.

The Yankees still have a shot at a comeback in this ALDS, no matter how slim it is. They have the pitching, they have the power, and they arguably play at their best with their backs against the wall. The Blue Jays are a good team, but they are not immune to losing three straight games. If the Yankees can chase their starting pitchers and get to the bullpen early, they just might have a shot at advancing to the ALCS for the second consecutive season.

 

Main Photo Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

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