Sunday MLB postseason open thread: Yankees @ Guardians

The 2022 MLB postseason has been wild. The third-place Phillies defeated the Cardinals and then the Braves to get to the NLCS. They will be joined there by the Padres, who somehow got past both the Mets and the Dodgers.

Over in the American League, things have so far been more conventional. The 106-win Astros steamrolled the Mariners to get to their sixth straight championship series. All wild card teams have been eliminated. And with a win tonight, the Guardians could upset the AL East champion New York Yankees and reach the ALCS for the first time since 2007. I think I know what we are all rooting for to happen.

There has been a lot of hand-wringing over the elimination of the Braves and Dodgers (weirdly no one seems that bothered about the Mets), but that’s postseason baseball. That’s how it has been for many years. The playoffs are chaos and all you can do is build a team that gets there as often as possible to have more chances to conquer the chaos.

I’m not saying there isn’t merit in thinking there are too many playoff teams. Many people think that, but they thought it before the Dodgers and Braves rolled over. This has brought out a whole new sort of whiner. But where were those people when the 88-win Braves, with the worst record in the 2021 postseason, won the whole thing?

Anyway, back to tonight’s game. Let’s all hope the Yankees choke the way the Braves and Dodgers do. Because nobody likes them. And on top of that, the Guardians are a really fun team! It’s an easy choice.

The Guardians are up 2-1 in the series so if the Yankees do win, we can hope to see the Yankees lose tomorrow in New York. That’s right, the ALDS had an off day between games one and two in the same city, but do not have a game off between games four and five where they have to travel.

Yankees Lineup

1. Gleyber Torres (R) 2B

2. Aaron Judge (R) RF

3. Anthony Rizzo (L) 1B

4. Giancarlo Stanton (R) DH

5. Josh Donaldson (R) 3B

6. Oswaldo Cabrera (S) SS

7. Harrison Bader (R) CF

8. Jose Trevino (R) C

9. Aaron Hicks (S) LF

SP: Gerrit Cole (RHP)

Guardians Lineup

1. Steven Kwan (L) LF

2. Amed Rosario (R) SS

3. Jose Ramirez (S) 3B

4. Josh Naylor (L) DH

5. Oscar Gonzalez (R) RF

6. Andres Gimenez (L) 2B

7. Gabriel Arias (R) 1B

8. Austin Hedges (R) C

9. Myles Straw (R) CF

SP: Cal Quantrill (RHP)