NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians will not continue their ALDS matchup as planned Thursday night. Game 2 has been postponed due to rain and will instead be played Friday at 1:07 p.m. ET, throwing a loop into our regularly scheduled programming -- and possibly some pitching.
The Yankees won Game 1 behind Gerrit Cole's dominance and Anthony Rizzo's two-run homer. They'll look to take a commanding 2-0 series lead in Game 2 at Yankee Stadium on Friday. Here's how you can watch Game 2.
"It's still baseball. It's still baseball. We'll be okay," Guardians manager Terry Francona said Wednesday when asked about a possible Game 2 rainout. "Our game is a game of adjustments. If we can't handle -- we'll be fine."
The ALDS schedule is unusual this year. Rather than the typical format with off-days between Games 2 and 3, and then Games 4 and 5, this year's ALDS had off-days between Games 1 and 2 and Games 2 and 3. MLB was able to easily reschedule Game 3 for Friday, during what would have been a scheduled off-day.
Rescheduling Game 3 was easy. For the Guardians and Yankees, the downside of the rainout Thursday is Games 2-5 will be played on four consecutive days. Travel from New York to Cleveland (and back to New York) is easy enough, though four games in four days would force the two clubs to change their pitching plans.
Here's what the Game 2 rainout means for the ALDS moving forward.
No. 4 starters become necessary
The Yankees came into the ALDS intending to use a three-man rotation, according to the New York Post. The Guardians haven't announced their rotation plans beyond Game 3, though I reckon using a three-man rotation has crossed their mind. Here is the original ALDS schedule and rotation outlooks:
| Date | Yankees SP | Guardians SP | |
|---|---|---|---|
Game 1 | Oct. 11 | ||
Game 2 | Oct. 13 | ||
Game 3 | Oct. 15 | ||
Games 4 (if necessary) | Oct. 16 | Gerrit Cole (normal rest) | Cal Quantrill? (normal rest) |
Games 5 (if necessary) | Oct. 17 | Nestor Cortes (short rest) | Shane Bieber? (short rest) |
Off-days between Games 1 and 2, and then Games 2 and 3, allowed each team to bring their Game 1 starter back in Game 4 with regular rest. The Game 2 starter could then pitch Game 5 on three days' rest. That's not ideal -- short-rest starts are becoming few and far between -- but if it gives the team the best chance to win a decisive Game 5, they'll do it.
With the Game 2 postponement, the Game 1 starter can still come back on normal rest in Game 4, but the Game 2 starter will instead be on two days' rest in Game 5. There is recent precedent for a postseason start on two days' rest. In the 2020 ALDS, the Tampa Bay Rays used Tyler Glasnow on two days' rest against the Yankees in Game 5, though he only went through the lineup one time and threw 37 pitches. It was an intentionally short start as part of what amounted to a bullpen game.
The Yankees and Guardians can bring their Game 2 starter back on two days' rest in Game 5, though it's unlikely, and even if they did, it wouldn't be a full start. Maybe they could get an inning or two out of Cortes and Bieber, respectively. So, either the Yankees and Guardians will use their a No. 4 starter in Game 5 (Jameson Taillon? Domingo Germán? Zach Plesac? Aaron Civale?), or they would cobble it together with an all-hands-on-deck bullpen game.
"I would consider him being an option in that kind of scenario," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday about Cortes possibly being available in Game 5 after starting Game 2 on Friday. " ... Hopefully we're not in a Game 5 situation, but if we are, we'll see. I mean, he would maybe be in play but not necessarily as a traditional starter."
Bullpen workloads
Game 2 being postponed until Friday, and thus forcing Games 2-5 to be played on four consecutive days, will impact the bullpens more than the rotations. All the built-in off-days in the postseason allow teams to ride their best relievers. The Yankees used lefty Wandy Peralta to get four outs in Game 1 on Tuesday knowing Wednesday was an off-day. They could have then used him to get another 4-5 outs in Game 2 on Thursday knowing Friday is an off-day. A Game 2 postponement changes that.
The Guardians and Yankees were middle of the pack in relief appearances on zero days' rest during the regular season, though the Yankees never once used a reliever on three consecutive days. All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase pitched three consecutive days on six occasions this year, though setup men James Karinchak and Trevor Stephan never did it once. Pitching four consecutive days never happens anymore, partly because of the three-batter minimum. No longer can a lefty specialist face 1-2 batters four or five days in a row, you know?
The original ALDS format would have allowed each team to use its top relievers in Game 3 and 4, and if push came to shove in Game 5, you could use them a third day in the row. The Game 2 postponement means Games 2-5 will be played four consecutive days, and there's little chance either team would use a reliever(s) all four games. And, even if they did, you have to think said reliever(s) would be fatigued and possibly compromised come Game 5.
Of course, there must be a Game 5 for any of this to matter. Each team is in good shape rotation-wise through Game 4 even after the Game 2 postponement. The bullpen situation is a bit more dicey, though you have to win the game in front of you. In Game 4, you're either playing for your season or you have a chance to advance. You do what you must to win, then figure out the rest later. The two teams will figure out their Game 5 pitching situation when there is a Game 5, and not a moment sooner.
