The Yankees & Red Sox rivalry goes back 100 years and will always exist, but for the last 10 years-or-so it seems like the intensity has lessened a bit. That has changed in a big way.
There are two things that elevate the intensity of this rivalry. Bad blood between the players. The bench-clearing brawl started by Joe Kelly & Tyler Austin took care of that, and the other thing is when both teams are dominant, winning teams. Consider this … the Red Sox started off the season 17-2 and have played .500 ball since. The Yankees started off at 9-9 and trailed the Red Sox by 7 1/2 games in the AL East. Now the Yankees have gone 17-2 in their last 19 games. Both teams are 26-11. Both teams are tied for 1st Place in the AL East. Both teams are tied for the best record in baseball !! They have played each other 6 times this season. Both have won 3 games.
The Yanks just won 2 of 3 at the Stadium, taking the first two by the scores of 3-2 & 9-6, while the Red Sox avoided the sweep by taking the last game 5-4 . Each game was a 1 run game when they got to the 8th inning. You can’t get more even.
Having said that, which team will win the division ?
Who will be the true “Beast of the East” ?
IMO – the NY Yankees !!
Why? Both teams will get their share of wins, but the Yankees can be more aggressive at the trade deadline (target would be a starting pitcher) thanks to a deeper farm system and the fact that they are below the luxury tax while the Red Sox are way over. On the field the Red Sox certainly have a solid offense, but the Yankees have a more potent line-up. They are built to hit the long ball & to capitalize on their home-field dimensions. The post-season might be a different story, but I definitely see the offense dominating much of the regular season especially at Yankee Stadium. As far as fielding the Yankees have a big advantage on the infield with the addition of Gleyber Torres solidifying the defense. It is not a coincidence that the Yankees started their winning ways when Torres was called-up. Conversely, Devers, Bogaerts, Nunez & Hanley will cost the Sox plenty of runs as the season progresses.
When it comes to pitching, the Yankees have a better bullpen top-to-bottom and the starting rotations are very close due to the uncertainty of David Price who is currently on the DL.
Here is what is key when it comes to starting pitching :
If Yankees ace Luis Severino continues to statistically match Boston ace Chris Sale, the Yankees will win the division by 5 or more games – imo
Here are current stats :
Chris Sale : 3-1 , 2.02 ERA , 0.94 WHIP , 63 K’s
Luis Severino : 5-1 , 2.21 ERA , 0.87 WHIP , 63 K’s
Speaking of Severino, Game 1 of the 3 game series just completed (May 8-10) proved an important point that I have been harping-on for the last 2 years. For Luis to be a dominant ace, he must throw three pitches, which means he must mix in his Change-up along with his FB & Slider. Sevy got hit very hard in Boston because he was FB/Slider happy. The Sox are savvy and looked to stay inside the fastball and pull the slider, with a gap-to-gap approach. I laughed when I heard Sevy was “tipping his pitches”. If you are throwing a FB at 97 mph & a Slider at 90 mph, you don’t have to tip pitches for a good hitting team, who can look for the FB and adjust to the slider.But against the Sox at the Stadium, he threw a ton of change-ups. The YES Network play-by-play & post game could not stop talking about the quantity & quality of the c/u.
Sevy’s start : 6.0 inn , 5H, 1 ER, 0BB , 11K
The other thing that I have been harping even longer is the importance of RHB using the middle of the field & going oppo to defeat the shift and to take advantage of the the short porch in RF at the Stadium. Stanton in the Sevy start hit a line drive HR to LF & also one to RF. Judge went dead-center for his big Game 2 HR, and unfortunately JD Martinez (who I coveted) went oppo for the game winner in Game 3.
One last thing that I have been harping on forever is more of a league-wide issue. All new stadiums should have been mandated to have a retractable roof, and 1 ground-rule that I harped on was that no fan should be able to interfere with a possible HR. Put plexi-glass, or have the first-row of seats set back, or figure something else out (every stadium is unique), but no fan should have the ability to reach over the wall and interfere with the most impactful single result in baseball, a home run. Aaron Judge probably would not have caught JD Martinez’ s HR that went into the first row in RF but his glove made contact with a fan in his attempt. The HR turned out to be the difference in the game. The game was exciting but was interrupted by a rain-delay, affecting the starting pitchers, the flow of the game and causing many fans. even some die-hard fans, to miss the end of the game. Image if that was game 7 of the 2018 ALCS and there was a rain delay in the middle of game with a national audience watching and the season on the line.
Getting back to the rivalry, 2018 is off to a terrific start. Nearly 150,000 fans packed into Yankee Stadium over the 3 games. They were energized, and LOUD !! There was an intensity that is usually reserved for October not May baseball.
The Rivalry is Revived … and that’s a good thing.
As always,
GO NYY !!
