The sportswriter hall of fame must have a very high bar.

"Supposed to" is my favorite phrase in the whole wide world.

It is a lazy, meaningless observation:

"The Astros, who went out and got Zack Greinke at the Trade Deadline, were supposed to have the edge with starting pitching over the Yankees, who didn’t do anything about pitching at the Deadline. Then Masahiro Tanaka was brilliant in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. Greinke got lit up by the Yankees the way the Rays lit him up in Game 3 of the Astros-Rays Division Series."

In all fairness, 3 runs in 6 innings is not being "lit up."


"Then the Yankees gave the ball to James Paxton, who’d been their best starter the second half of the season, in Game 2"

Then what happened?

 
"Only Aaron Boone pulled Paxton in the third inning. Paxton had only given up one run to that point, but there were two runners on and Alex Bregman was coming to the plate. Paxton was gone."

Wow!

Since I watched the game, I already knew this.

But please continue ... the tension is building!


"By the time Game 2 was over, Boone would have done what the Yankees have done since the Deadline: Made a bet that the best bullpen on the planet could carry the Yankees to what would have been their biggest victory of the season so far, and a 2-0 series lead."

The Yankees relied on their bullpen before the trade deadline, too.

You have not yet told me anything that I didn't know by looking at the box score.


"And his relievers nearly made that bet pay off. Boone used eight of them from the third to the 11th at Minute Maid Park. They only gave the Astros two runs from the third until the bottom of the 11th. By then, Boone was out of relievers and pitching J.A. Happ, who’d been one of his starters."

I knew it! I thought the whole time that J.A. Happ was one of the Yankee starting pitchers. I was right!

Sabathia, too! 'Member when he came in to pitch? He had (?) also been one of Boone's starters ... and he still is one of Boone's starters.

You know what else is weird? Boone wasn't actually out of relievers. Even though you said "Boone was out of relievers."

He just chose two of his starters instead of his relievers. It's true!

Granted, the remaining relievers are not the "high leverage" relievers. Their names are Luis Cessa and Tyler Lyons.

They are relief pitchers on the Yankees playoff roster, yes they are.



"Carlos Correa took Happ out of Minute Maid, and the Astros had won, 3-2, and the ALCS was even at 1-1 going back to New York."

No. Way.

Is that really what happened?

Is he the guy who was shushing the crowed while he rounded the bases? Or is he the guy who was holding his hand up to his ear while he rounded the bases?

Lupica is always first with the breaking news.


"So far in this series each team has gotten a big October game from its ace, Tanaka and then Verlander. But the Astros, who beat the Yankees because of their starters two years ago, have two aces this season. The Yankees? They decided they had enough starting pitching in July, because of their bullpen. Now they get the chance to prove it in October. They got the bullpen game they wanted Sunday night. They just did everything except win it."

You know what, Lupica?

Go screw yourself.

"The Yankees should have gotten a starting pitcher" late night WFAN moron caller garbage.


Who was the pitcher the Yankees were going to get?

Stroman? Meh.

Scherzer? Ridiculous.

Syndergaard? Even more Meh and even more ridiculous.

Say Anibal Sanchez with 20-20 hindsight and I'll slap you.


We all know aces are rare and therefore valuable.

What would it have cost the Yankees? Torres and Frazier, at a minimum.

For a guy who can take on Verlander pitch by pitch?

Even if that pitchers exists ... Buehler? Strasburg? ... obviously not available, but the Yankees would maybe have to throw in Sanchez, Urshela, Kahnle, Montgomery, and Andujar.


Remember when the Yankees picked up Encarnacion?

They didn't "need" more home run power, right?

The opportunity presented itself because the price was right.

The Yankees didn't "decide" they had enough starting pitching ... the market didn't allow them to reasonably acquire more starting pitching.

If the Rays were willing to trade Blake Snell for Greg Bird, Cashman would have been all over it.

The "bullpen" strategy worked in Game Two. The problem is the offense got two runs when they needed three.