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The Cleveland Guardians face the New York Yankees in what should play out to be a very exciting American League Division Series in the 2022 MLB Playoffs. Here we'll discuss our Guardians ALDS predictions.
The Guardians are unquestionably underdogs in their American League Division Series matchup with the Yankees. Keep in mind that Cleveland is the league's youngest club, with the fourth-lowest payroll. The Guardians advanced to the playoffs by winning a division in which no other team finished above .500.
Having said that, Cleveland has a fascinating and ever more confident team heading into the ALDS. Don't forget that they also swept the Rays in their Wild Card Series. Looking ahead, the Guardians see the powerhouse Yankees as another intriguing if possibly insurmountable obstacle in their wild and surprising postseason run.
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3. Myles Straw should hear it from them Yankee fans anew
Guardians outfielder Myles Straw will surely hear it from the Yankees' Bleacher Creatures when he takes his place in center field for Game 1.
Recall that last April 23 at Yankees Stadium, left fielder Steven Kwan smacked the fence hard while chasing a game-tying double by Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Kwan was taken aback, and Yankee supporters rejoiced. Straw became enraged and scaled the fence in left-center field to shout at them.
Fellow outfielder Oscar Mercado had to try settling the tension by pulling Straw off the fence.
When the game resumed, Gleyber Torres singled home Kiner-Falefa for the game-winning walk-off. Mercado was then bombarded by debris as he pursued the game-winning shot in right-center field. We remember this even included a beer can that he batted away with his glove. Other Guardians along with venue security and even some Yankee players had to race to the outfield to attempt to calm the crowd.
Straw surely remembers that day, and so do the Bleachers Creatures. It would be interesting to see how their reunion in the ALDS would turn out.
2. Jose Ramirez outplays Aaron Judge
It's pretty amazing that the Guardians got to this point in a season in which a franchise-record 17 rookies made their debut. Still, it was their established, homegrown hero José Ramirez who remained the team's main driver and the center of their universe. Of course, he also tends to play pretty well against the New York Yankees.
Take note that Ramirez ranks in the top ten in OPS among all players who had at least 200 plate appearances against the Yankees in the regular and postseason. He is also first among active players in that category. He joins Ted Williams, Hank Greenberg, and Alex Rodriguez, and others on that list.
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Looking at the matchups in this series, things seem to favor Ramirez. He has a 1.052 OPS versus Game 1 starter Gerrit Cole in his career and a 1.228 OPS against Game 3 starter Luis Severino. Yes, he's 0-for-7 with four strikeouts against Game 2 starter Nestor Cortes, but this appears to be a moment for him to emerge. Finally, don't forget that the Guardians' collective fate is inevitably tied to Ramirez's play. In fact, this season, when he has recorded a 1.018 OPS in their wins, while just putting up .657 OPS in losses. And if he plays like he usually does against this club, they'll be fine.
The pitching staff held it down in the Wild Card round.
Cal Quantrill takes the ball tomorrow night.#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/bXE5oknxPn
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) October 10, 2022
On the other end, the Guardians may also have just enough pitching to keep superstar batter Aaron Judge at bay. In their limited experience against Judge, this group of Cleveland pitchers has fared better than most. Judge is 0-for-5 with two walks against Game 1 starter Cal Quantrill. He is 1-for-8 with a homer, a walk, and three strikeouts against Game 2 starter Shane Bieber, and 0-for-3 with a strikeout against Game 3 starter Triston McKenzie. He's also 0-for-2 with a walk against relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase.
With all these, the atmosphere seems ideal for Ramirez to outplay Judge in the ALDS.
1. Guardians are hot… but not hot enough
Even if Ramirez does outperform Judge, however, the Guardians will still probably end up getting eliminated here.
Remember that during the regular season, the Yankees were 5-1 versus Cleveland. This included a three-game sweep in the Bronx from April 22-24. The Guardians then lost four consecutive against the Angels, dropping their record to 7-12. The remainder of the way, they went 85-58 (.594).
The last time New York and Cleveland played in the postseason was in 2020. Recall that at Progressive Field, the Yankees swept the three-game wild card series.
The two clubs have faced off in 22 games across five postseason series. The Yankees have won 12 of those matchups.
Cleveland last defeated New York in the ALDS in 2007. After losing 0-6 versus New York in the regular season, they won the series 3-1. Will lightning strike twice here? Possible but unlikely. The Yankees have the depth and hitting power to thwart the Guardians, though we should still be in for a very exciting series.
