Yahoo Sports senior MLB analysts Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman preview the American League Division Series between the two AL East rivals – including how Toronto edged New York in the regular season, but has to end its recent playoff struggles to advance this time around. Check out the full conversation on the “Baseball Bar-B-Cast” podcast – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
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Video Transcript
We now move to the ALDS between the Yankees and Blue Jays.
Which will begin Saturday evening in Canada at the Rogers Centre under the dome.
The two teams tied for the lead in the American League East, the Blue Jays won the division based on their season series record against the Yankees.
And I love when it lines up like this.
We play 162 games and they’re totally even, for the sake of fairness and narrative, you know, justice, that these two teams get to battle it out over a five-game set one more time.
We will know once and for all who the better team is.
Heading into the series, I’m gonna pick the Yankees, because I think as currently constructed, health-wise, their roster is better than Toronto’s.
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Yeah, and, you know, we can get into the, to the pitching matchups and what we’re thinking about here.
Um, but you mentioned that context, of course, of the teams tying.
The Yankees took advantage of their easy schedule in September and made it interesting.
And credit Toronto for fending them off because they also basically had to win almost every game over the last 10 days to ensure that they would at least remain tied and win that division.
And they did that, of course, the Blue Jays won the season series 8 to 5.
Now, most notably, that includes a 6 and 1 record at home, including a, a memorable mop of the Yankees in early July when the Yankees were really kind of going through it.
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Um, they played 7 of their games in the series, uh, in Toronto; 6 on the road.
The Yankees did win, uh, both series, I believe, uh, against Toronto at home.
But this is part of why Toronto is here as the higher seed, and with the bye, because they were able to take care of New York in the middle of the season.
Uh, to that degree.
That said, while the Yankees, we have seen plenty in October over the last half decade have some big successes, some big failures, of course.
The Blue Jays, who, the fact that they are here, credit to them for what they have done this season, but it is hard not to think about how this has gone for them when they have been in the postseason recently, which is 3 straight trips to the playoffs getting swept.
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In two games in the wildcard series, that’s in 2020 against the Rays, that’s in 2022 against the Mariners.
That is in 2023 against the Twins.
Now, only the Mariners was at home.
You know you have a bad run of show in the playoffs when you’re the one who breaks the twins’ playoff drought, right?
Dude, right, exactly, and the Mariners for that matter, right?
Like, you’re facing two teams that are known for losing in the playoffs or not being there at all, and that is how that went.
They also, of course, lost game 5 of the 2016 ALCS, so it is an L7 in October.
Dating back to 2016, the last time the Blue Jays won a playoff game, Aaron Sanchez got the start.
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So that is how long it has been.
Aaron Sanchez, one of our favorites, but I don’t know what he’s up to now.
I don’t believe he will be pitching in this series.
George Huesterman, who you got in this series?
Uh, I will go.
Um, I’ll go with the Yankees, but I, I don’t know, man.
I think Toronto’s just kind of got that.
They got that buzz right now.
Now, again, you, you got to go prove it as we just laid out, they have not proven a whole lot in October recently, but this is, the fact that they got home field here feels significant, and I’m very, very curious.
And the last thing I mentioned about Schlitter, the Red Sox hadn’t faced him.
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I know they faced him against Northeastern.
They have not, they did not face Littler in the regular season.
The Jays faced him twice.
He had pitched pretty well.
It was everybody, type everybody, type everybody, type everybody, type everybody, type everybody, type everybody, type everybody, type everybody, type everybody, type everybody.
Everybody, everybody, type 10.
So that could play a role to some degree.
But I’m gonna go with the Yankees.
I am gonna go in 5, and that is somewhat manifesting because I think I would be the one to go cover that.
So we will see if that actually happens, but I’m gonna go Yankees in 5.
Great.
I will do Yankees in 5 as well.