Why Yankees are guaranteed to win World Series
10/11/2024 12:25 PM
For the second time in the last three seasons and the fourth time in the past eight, the New York Yankees are heading to the American League Championship Series. New York is trying to do what it hasn’t for 15 years: win the AL pennant and claim the World Series title. An ALDS win over the Kansas City Royals is a good place to start.
The Yankees took care of business Thursday night, closing out a tight series on the road, and booked their ticket to the final four of the MLB playoffs. While they await their ALCS opponent, the Yankees and their fans can’t help but think this might finally be the year they capture championship No. 28.
New York was arguably the best American League team all season and now the odds show they’re the favorite to win it all. The Yanks are eight wins away from a title, but in some realms, it feels inevitable that they’ll be the last team standing in 2024.
Baseball games will be played and the ball can bounce in strange ways. The most unpredictable sport tends to get wackier in the postseason, but sometimes “on paper” wins out.
The Yankees have the tools to get it done. Here’s why they should already be envisioning a parade on Broadway.
Yankees bullpen has been untouchable
It is often said that good pitching wins championships. Calling the Yankees bullpen’s ALDS performance “good” would be a massive understatement, even if it was only four games.
New York’s relievers were utterly dominant against Kansas City, tossing 15 2/3 scoreless innings. The Royals did not score a run after the sixth inning of the entire series.
Furthermore, only one inherited runner crossed the plate off Yankees relievers. That came off Tim Hill in Game 1, which New York won 6-5 after multiple lead changes.
Perhaps what’s most impressive about the Yankees bullpen is newly minted closer Luke Weaver. A career starter before this season (though he did make 21 of his 22 appearances in relief in 2022), Weaver turned himself into a shutdown ninth-inning option for Aaron Boone. He’s delivered in his first-ever MLB playoffs.
Weaver locked down all three of New York’s ALDS wins, allowing only two of the 15 batters he faced to reach base safely. Those were a pair of singles in the eighth inning of Game 3. Weaver exited the inning unscathed, then retired the Royals in order in the ninth for his third multi-inning save of the season.
A great bullpen takes the pressure off of the starting rotation. Yankees relievers have picked up their starters in an emphatic way.
Emergence of Giancarlo Stanton
Oh hello, Giancarlo. It’s nice of you to join us.
After hitting .194 in September, the expectation was another dismal postseason from the Yankees slugger. Instead, Giancarlo Stanton powered New York’s offense throughout the ALDS as Aaron Judge’s playoff struggles continued.
Stanton had five hits in Games 3 & 4, including a double and home run in Game 3 where he was part of all three runs the Yanks scored in the win. He drove in at least one run in the last three games after going 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts in Game 1.
Stanton also showed off his wheels, swiping a bag in Game 3 for his first stolen base since 2020.
The Yankees needed someone to step up and fuel the offense with Juan Soto as Judge’s career playoff batting average approaches the Mendoza Line. Stanton, the 325 million dollar man, is producing in a big way.
This could be a legacy-defining postseason for Stanton in a Yankees uniform. Most of his tenure has been marred by injury and inconsistency at the plate, but one fantastic title run with Stanton at the wheel would put all of that to rest.
After an awful showing during the 2022 MLB playoffs, where Stanton hit .188 with a .666 OPS in nine games, this turnaround is huge for him and the Yankees. He could be a sneaky MVP pick for the ALCS or World Series.
New York’s path to Fall Classic
The best team doesn't always win, especially in baseball, but it’s hard to ignore the talent discrepancy between the Yankees and the rest of the American League field compared to the three remaining National League teams.
That alone gives the Yanks an advantage in the Championship Series, but other factors point to New York having a clear path to a World Series title.
Winning the ALDS in four games gives the Yankees three days off before two home games to begin the ALCS. New York posted winning records against Cleveland and Detroit, their two potential dance partners in the series.
The Yanks continued their supremacy over the Guardians by winning four of their six matchups in the regular season with a +15 run differential. There’s also the recent playoff history between the two franchises, with New York ending Cleveland’s season in 2022, 2020 and 2017.
The Tigers kept things closer against the Yankees, but history does not bode well for Detroit regarding a trip to the Bronx. In the past four seasons, the Yankees are 11-1 against the Tigers at Yankee Stadium.
The National League is a gauntlet with a red-hot Mets team and the Padres/Dodgers beating each other up. The ideal scenario for the Yanks would be a long NLCS with games similar to the Padres-Dodgers series, one that’s been full of tension and heated exchanges.
That can set New York on a course to a less-than-difficult World Series run. Plays still need to be made and runs plated, but the Yankees are in the best spot of any remaining MLB playoff team as the league semifinals loom next week.
The post Why Yankees are guaranteed to win World Series appeared first on ClutchPoints.
