The American League Division Series between the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Guardians has had a little bit of everything.
Ace starters dominating, relievers coming through, relievers coughing up leads, home runs, weird celebrations, walk-off hits, rainouts, strategy, and now pitchers starting on three days rest.
It has been everything fans wanted it to be.
Speaking of the rainouts, there have been two: Game 2 was postponed and moved from Thursday to Friday last week; and Game 5 was rescheduled to Tuesday afternoon after rain prevented it from being played yesterday.
It’s safe to say both teams have benefitted from the postponements.
“The #Guardians got the advantage with the first rainout and their deep bullpen. The #Yankees now get the advantage with Cortes starting instead of Taillon,” MLB insider Bob Nightengale tweeted.
The #Guardians got the advantage with the first rainout and their deep bullpen.
The #Yankees now get the advantage with Cortes starting instead of Taillon— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 18, 2022
Both Teams Have Benefitted From Postponements
After Game 2 was moved to Friday, the Guardians were in a better position to take advantage of their deep bullpen because there could be games in four straight days if the series went to the maximum of five contests, which ended up happening.
And the Guards did leverage their super bullpen to two victories over the weekend, on Friday and Saturday, before Gerrit Cole‘s outing gave the Yankees a win and a 2-2 tie in the ALDS.
The most recent postponement, however, gave the Yankees a slight edge: yes, Cleveland can now use Shane Bieber but they appear reluctant to send him on short rest.
The Yankees, on the other hand, are sending Nestor Cortes Jr. on short rest for Game 5.
That was their original plan, since they have more trust in what Cortes can do on short rest than in Jameson Taillon or Domingo German.
All things considered, both teams have benefitted from rainouts.
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