Cleveland Indians: An in-depth look at the New York Yankees

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The Cleveland Indians will begin their postseason journey with a best-of-three series against the New York Yankees. Here’s what to know about the Bombers as the Tribe look to knock out the 27-time world champions.

Postseason baseball is back in the Rock and Roll Capital of the World. The Cleveland Indians will kick off their quest to break their 72-year world series title drought by hosting the New York Yankees in a best of three wild card series.

With the MLB expanding the postseason to eight teams per league and the second-place team from each division earning an automatic playoff bid, the Indians captured the fourth seed in the AL postseason after finishing second in the AL Central with a 35-25 record.

Meanwhile, the Yankees finished second in the AL East behind the Tampa Bay Rays as they posted a 33-27 record.

While the Yankees season did not go according to plan, they’re just one year removed from a 103 win 2019 campaign that saw them come within two wins of the World Series. They’ll also bring 11 former all-stars to Cleveland, the AL Batting Champion and MLB home run leader, making them a massive challenge for the Tribe.

Here’s everything Indians fans need to know about the 2020 New York Yankees and how Cleveland stacks up with the Bombers.

PHILADELPHIA, PA – AUGUST 05: Brett Gardner #11 of the New York Yankees celebrates with Aaron Judge #99 after hitting a two run home run in the bottom of the second inning against the Philadelphia Phillies during Game One of the doubleheader at Citizens Bank Park on August 5, 2020 in Philadelphia City. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

The best way to describe the 2020 Yankees would be streaky.

New York started the season red-hot as they won eight of their first nine games and eventually improved to 16-6. They then went onto lose 15 of their next 20 games, falling to .500 on the season at 21-21. This was followed by a ten-game winning streak that pushed the Yankees to 31-21 but the end of the season saw another slump as the Bombers went 2-6 in their final eight games to finish the 60-game spring 33-27.

Thus, depending on which version of the Yankees the Indians get, they could be in for a dogfight or have a favorable advantage.

When the Yankees are rolling, they’re among the most dangerous teams’ in baseball as during a series sweep of the playoff-bound Blue Jays in Mid-September, the Bombers set a franchise record with 19 home runs in a single-series and became the first team in MLB history to hit at least six home runs in three straight games.

However, when off, the Yankees pitching staff struggles to get out’s, their offense 1-9 all seem to struggle and their defense seemingly implodes.

What’s scary for the Indians is the Yankees are coming off a cold streak, which means they’re due to heat up.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 27: DJ LeMahieu #26 of the New York Yankees hits a single during the fifth inning against the Miami Marlins at Yankee Stadium on September 27, 2020 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

Projected Lineup

2B: DJ LeMahieu (.364/.421/.590) 10 HR, 27 RBI’s

RF: Aaron Judge (.265/.336/.554) 9 HR, 22 RBI’s

CF: Aaron Hicks (.225/.379/.413) 6 HR, 21 RBI’s

DH: Giancarlo Stanton (.250/.343/.500) 4 HR, 11 RBI’s

1B: Luke Voit (.277/.338/.610) 22 HR, 52 RBI’s

SS: Gleyber Torres (.243/.356/.368) 3 HR, 16 RBI’s

3B: Gio Urshela (.298/.368/490) 6 HR, 30 RBI’s

C: Gary Sanchez (.147/.253/.365) 10 HR, 24 RBI’s or Kyle Higashioka (.250/.250/521) 4 HR, 10 RBI’s

LF: Clint Fraizer (.267/.394/.511) 8 HR, 26 RBI’s or Brett Gardner (.223/354/.392) 5 HR, 15 RBI’s

Despite being streaky, the Yankees arguably still have the most potent lineup in the American League.

New York finished first in the American League in runs scored (315), on-base% (342), tied for first in home runs (94) and second in slugging (.447).

The Yankees lineup features the AL and MLB batting champion DJ LeMahieu who hit .364 and baseball’s home run leader Luke Voit (22), making them the first team since the 1959 Braves to have baseball’s batting average and home run leader (Hank Aaron and Eddie Murray).

In total, the Bombers have six former all-stars in their lineup, including former AL Rookie of the Year Aaron Judge, who was on pace for an MVP season before going down with a lower-body injury and missing a month of action. Former NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton also got off to a hot start but was forced to miss over a month, slowing down his potential big-season.

Two former Indians will make their return to Progressive Field looking to burn their former team as third basemen Gio Urshela put together his second straight stellar season for the Bombers and former Cleveland first round draft pick Clint Frazier will look for revenge on the Tribe who traded him before ever reaching the majors.

If the Yankees offense is clicking, the Indians pitching staff will have their work cut out for them as there isn’t a single easy out when the Bombers are rolling.

ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA – AUGUST 08: Gerrit Cole #45 of the New York Yankees pitches during Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on August 08, 2020 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

Projected Rotation:

RHP, Gerrit Cole (7-3, 2.84 ERA) 73 IP, 94 K’s
RHP, Masahiro Tanaka (3-3, 3.56 ERA) 48 IP, 44K’s
LHP, J.A. Happ (2-2, 3.47 ERA) 49.1 IP, 42 K’s

All three of the Yankees projected starters for the three-game Wild Card series with Cleveland are former all-star’s.

The Bombers ace is right-hander Gerrit Cole who is in the first year of a nine-year $324 deal he signed in December of 2019 with the team he grew up rooting for. In his first season with the Yankees, Cole looked worth the hefty price as he posted a 7-3 record, 2.84 ERA and struck out 94 batters in 73 innings of work. Cole went to the World Series with the Astros last season and has made 10 career postseason starts in which he is 6-4 with a 2.60 ERA.

Masahiro Tanaka will likely pitch Game 2 for the Yankees, which will be a tall task for the Indians. Tanaka is one of baseball’s best postseason performers as in eight career postseason starts, the Japanese import is 5-3 with a 1.76 ERA, including defeating the Cleveland Indians by shutting them out in Game 3 of the 2017 ALDS.

If there’s a Game 3, southpaw J.A. Happ is likely to get the ball for the Yankees after a bounce-back 2020 campaign that saw him post a 3.47 ERA. The 37-year old has pitched in 14 postseason games and made four starts in which he has struggled as he is 1-3 with a 5.04 ERA.

For an Indians offense that ranked among the worst in baseball, none of these arms will be easy to break through against, but with a great rotation of their own, Cleveland should be able to counter the Yankees all-star staff.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 13: Aroldis Chapman #54 of the New York Yankees in action against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on September 13, 2020 in New York City. The Yankees defeated the Orioles 3-1. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

Projected Bullpen:

Closer: LHP, Aroldis Chapman (1-1, 3.09 ERA) 3 SV’s, 2 BSLV’s

8th: LHP, Zack Britton (0-1, 1.89 ERA) 8 SV’s 0 BSV’s

Set up: RHP, Chad Green (0-3, 3.51 ERA) 25.2 IP, 32 K’s

Mid Relief: RHP, Adam Ottavino (0-2, 5.89 ERA) 18.1 IP, 25 K’s

Mid Relief: RHP, Luis Cessa (0-0, 3.32 ERA) 21.1 IP, 17 K’s

Mid Relief: RHP, Jonathan Holder (0-3, 4.98 ERA) 21.1 IP’s 14 K’s

Long Relief: RHP, Jonathan Loaisiga (3-3, 3.52 ERA) 23 IP, 22K’s

Long Relief: LHP, Jordan Montgomery (2-3, 5.11 ERA) 44 IP, 47 K’s

Long Relief: RHP, Deivi Garcia (3-2, 4.98 ERA) 34.1 IP, 33 K’s

When thinking about the New York Yankees’ strengths, most mention their bullpen ahead of their potent offense. This season, however, the New York bullpen has had their share of blunders.

The Yankees pen ranked middle of the pack as they finished with the 15th best ERA this season at 4.51. They saw both Aroldis Chapman and Luis Cessa join the team late as they both tested positive for COVID-19 in the preseason and watched normally reliable right-hander Adam Ottavino have one off the worst seasons’ of his career.

Despite this, New York still has some of baseball’s most feared relievers and many have impressive postseason numbers.

Chapman, who helped beat the Indians in the 2016 World Series as a member of the Chicago Cubs, has posted a 2.45 ERA with nine saves in 32 postseason games, Zack Britton has a 3.06 ERA with two saves in 17 games and Cessa has yet to allow a run in four innings of postseason work.

While not a lockdown bullpen, stringing together runs late against the Yankees is still no easy feat.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 18: Franmil Reyes #32 of the Cleveland Indians beats the tag from Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees to score a run in the second inning at Yankee Stadium on August 18, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

Runs Scored: Yankees, 315, Indians, 248

Home Runs: Yankees, 94, Indians, 59

Batting Average: Yankees, .243, Indians, .228

Starters ERA: Indians, 3.17, Yankees, 4.24

Bullpen ERA: Indians, 3.53, Yankees, 4.51

Strikeouts: Indians 517, Yankees 480

When looking at the basic stats, it’s clear the Yankees have a far better offense than the Indians, while Cleveland’s pitching staff is far superior to New York’s. However, the postseason is a far different animal and will come down to matchups.

Game 1’s pitching matchup figures to call for a low-scoring affair as the Indians will counter Yankees ace Gerrit Cole with CY Young Award favorite Shane Bieber which should make for a low-scoring affair.

In Game 2, the Indians and Yankees will both roll out experienced starters in Masahiro Tanaka and Carlos Carrasco, while Game 3 (if necessary) will see Cleveland’s young righty Zach Plesac will battle veteran left-hander J.A. Happ.

Thus, despite the stats, all three matchups appear close to even and should call for nail-bitingly close battles.

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