Yankees: 3 things we learned from 2019 ALCS defeat

Yes, we are all in mourning. Yankees fans from New York to California and around the planet are grieving the team’s 4-2 loss to the Houston Astros in the ALCS. What did we learn from the team’s performance in the ALCS?

To be sure, the ALCS was a very close and highly competitive series between two MLB juggernauts (Yankees and Astros). The cliché, “it could have gone either way,” definitely applies here.

Analysts have provided varying explanations as to why the Astros won the series, and the Yanks did not. There seems to be some consensus that the ‘Stros were simply able to do the little things better and at the right time. This is generally correct from what I witnessed.

Also, as we all anticipated, Houston had superior starting pitching. Their starters were able to get into the late innings successfully, thereby putting less pressure on their bullpen, which was supposed to be inferior to the Yankees ‘pen. The starters for the Yanks, in contrast, had mixed success in getting deeper into games.

Surprisingly, the bullpen for the Yankees did not live up to expectations. Aroldis Chapman lost the series on one pitch. Adam Ottavino appeared to lack confidence on the mound and was a big disappointment, more generally. However, this was a valuable learning experience for him. I am sure that the Brooklyn-born Ottavino will pitch better in his next ALCS.

Were the Yankees not prepared?

More than anything else, while both teams struggled at the plate, the Yankees failed miserably to get clutch hits. They certainly had enough opportunities with men on base. No more than just two or three clutch hits at the right time could have swung the outcome of the ALCS, resulting in a victory for the Yanks. Also, the Bombers struck out way too many times and didn’t bomb nearly enough.

The failure of Yanks’ players to hit Astros’ pitching, particularly in clutch situations, is in stark contrast to their impressive performance throughout the regular season. Why?

One has to wonder whether the players were mentally prepared for the challenge of battling Houston. Many of the players in pinstripes appeared to be nervous and unsure of themselves when they came up to bat (Gary Sanchez).

Several seemed to be pressing at times and may have succumbed to the bright lights and nerves from having to play on such a big stage (Edwin Encarnacion).

As a manager, Aaron Boone should have anticipated that this might be a problem. Perhaps he should have created a more relaxing atmosphere in the clubhouse, thereby decreasing the level of anxiety of his players. This is what former Yankees skipper Joe Torre was great at doing.

One hopes that Boone has learned from this experience and that he will have a better strategy for preparing his players psychologically (and tactically) for battle next time.

In contrast, the Nationals versus the Astros

While the Washington Nationals are a good team, they are not as good as the Yankees. Yet, they were able to put multi-hit and multi-run innings together in the first two games of the World Series against the Astros, while the Bombers partially failed to do so when they also played in Houston.

And the Nats have shown that beating both pitching supermen, Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander is key to neutralizing the ‘Stros — and it is indeed possible.

Admittedly, the Nats do have a deeper starting pitching staff than the Yanks, and that matters.

The team is led by two of the best starting pitchers in the NL, Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg, and their No. 3 and 4 starters have performed well, too, during the regular season.

The composition of the Nats’ starting pitching staff is a good model for the Bombers to emulate this offseason.

However, according to GM Brian Cashman (per the NY Post), during the Yankees end-of-season press conference, he said:

“Pitching is not what cost us that series with the Astros… I felt that our hitting with runners in scoring position is what sent us home.”

While I agree that pitching alone may not have cost the Yankees the series, the team’s throwers could have performed better and kept the team in games longer than they did.