A short series just got shorter.
With Game 2 of the ALDS between the Yankees and Guardians postponed Thursday due to a bad forecast in The Bronx, the teams could end up playing four straight days if the series goes the full five games.
As Aaron Boone said Wednesday about the prospect of losing an off day, “That’s what you do in baseball. You play every day.”
But that’s not usually the case in the playoffs, and the Yankees will head into Friday’s Game 2 at the Stadium having played just one game in an eight-day span thanks to their bye into the ALDS.
After the teams play Friday at the Stadium, the series shifts to Cleveland for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Sunday and possibly back to The Bronx on Monday.
So how does the new schedule impact the remainder of the series? Here’s a look:
Starting over
Boone said before the series that he wanted to have a three-man starting rotation, with Gerrit Cole going in Game 1, Nestor Cortes in Game 2 and Luis Severino in Game 3. The original plan had Cole going again in a potential Game 4 and Cortes on short rest in Game 5, if necessary.
Thursday’s rainout doesn’t impact Cole, but it takes Cortes out of the equation — at least as a starter — for Monday’s Game 5.
The lefty said Wednesday he was up for whatever the Yankees asked him to do, but on two days’ rest, that would be limited.
Boone left open the door on possibly using Cortes for an inning or so.
The options for Game 5 would then be Jameson Taillon, who had shifted to the bullpen and was warming up in the top of the ninth before Clay Holmes closed out the Game 1 win; Domingo German, who is also in the pen; or perhaps a bullpen game.
The potential need for Taillon in Game 5 would impact how he would be able to be used in relief the remainder of the series.
It’s not an ideal situation for Cleveland, either, since the Guardians now won’t be able to bring back Game 2 starter Shane Bieber for Game 5. They may be left with perhaps Aaron Civale or Zach Plesac, neither of whom would scare the Yankees.
Bullpen issues
The Yankees’ bullpen is already ravaged by injuries, with Scott Effross the latest to go down. While they’ve had plenty of rest since the end of the regular season, with no days off the rest of the series, some relievers could be used for three straight days for the first time this season.
Holmes, Wandy Peralta and Miguel Castro are only just back from IL stints and Jonathan Loaisiga missed time with a shoulder impingement earlier in the season.
Cleveland’s bullpen is already without valuable right-hander Nick Sandlin.
Like night and day
Finally, Thursday’s game was scheduled to be played at 7:37 p.m. Instead, Friday will be a day game, starting at 1:07 p.m.
In a dozen day-game starts, Cortes had a 1.82 ERA and a miniscule WHIP of 0.797 compared to a 2.99 ERA and 1.032 WHIP in 16 night-game starts.
Bieber had a 3.29 ERA in 17 day starts, nearly a full run higher than his 2.41 ERA in 14 night starts, though his WHIP was nearly identical (1.059 in the day compared to 1.018 at night).
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