Yankees: Luke Voit drops confident guarantee ahead of Game 5

Yankees first baseman Luke Voit knows the Yanks will win Game 5. The guys in that locker room need to deliver.

Though the road to arrive at Game 5 of the ALDS between the Yankees and Rays likely wasn’t what any of us expected, the destination is far from shocking.

Masahiro Tanaka faltering and a Game 2 pitching flip-flop may have momentarily thrown this series off its axis, but when Jordan Montgomery delivers in a do-or-die Game 4 against a lineup that shoved him around earlier this year in the Mike Brosseau game (tears in their eyes [ears?]!), it feels like the universe course-correcting and bringing about the inevitable.

The Rays have been the better team in 2020. The Yankees have the better roster. And on Friday night, the two teams will battle one final time in a “season series” that now sits at 10-4 in favor of Tampa Bay.

But don’t toss that seed of doubt Luke Voit’s way. The very second Thursday night’s game ended, he was feeling rejuvenated enough to confidently guarantee his team would find a way to win the decider.

It’s only natural that Voit has been imbued with a new sense of confidence.

After slumping through the first three games of the ALDS, Aaron Boone shifted the red-hot Giancarlo Stanton up to the cleanup spot, giving Voit a very minuscule demotion to the five spot.

And what happened? An immediate Nuke deep into the left field seats, setting the tone for the first step of their attempted comeback.

https://twitter.com/YESNetwork/status/1314349580985790469?s=20

Voit is on a high right now, but at the same time, he speaks for every guy in that locker room, who knew Gerrit Cole would eventually be getting the ball in a game like this, but likely didn’t know it would come so soon when Game 3 ended with a whimper.

At the very least, Voit’s confidence should drip down and force the players to make themselves the story in this one. Let no umpire control the narrative. Let no Ray dictate when your offseason begins. Do it yourself.

When the Yankees were at their lowest point this September, Voit seemed to be the only one willing to acknowledge it, serving as the spokesman of their descent. Now, on the verge of climbing out of a self-imposed hole, hopefully the burly first baseman again sparks his teammates to reach the heights they are more than capable of scaling.

Every Yankee should want to win as badly as Luke Voit does.

Yankees: 3 mistakes Aaron Boone can’t make for rest of playoffs

Here are three mistakes New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone can't afford to make for the rest of the 2020 MLB playoffs against...whoever.