Simple and easy…
Here are our Playoff Predictions:
Lincoln Mitchell – The Yankees will lose in the first round. They will win big in game one, but then lose games two and three. Both will be great games and one will be a walk-off by their opponents. It will be a bit like 1995 against Seattle, but in a shorter series.
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Paul Semendinger – Predictions like these are always difficult. This year, especially because of the lengthy playoffs and the fact that the Yankees are either great or terrible. This is less a prediction tan a hope…the Yankees reach the World Series and then break our hearts there, rather than doing it quickly in the various playoff rounds.
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Mike Whiteman – I do not predict the Yankees will win the World Series. This team gives me a 1995-type vibe.
I predict they will beat Cleveland in the Wild Card round, but then fall to Tampa Bay in the second round.
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Patrick Gunn – predict that the Yankees lose in the first round of the playoffs. Yes, that’s harsh, and the Yankees have the talent to win a World Series. With that said, the Yankees entered the playoffs with a whimper, losing six of their last eight. The lineup is not delivering in clutch moments, their bullpen is inconsistent, and they are struggling to keep up with the Blue Jays and Marlins. They barely earned the five seed because the Blue Jays lost on Sunday. Also, the Yankees are the five-seed, meaning that they must play on the road, where they have struggled this season (I detailed several ways that they’ve struggled away from the Bronx here). The Yankees are playing like it’s a lost season when they should be striving towards a playoff berth. Not to mention the fact that New York is facing Cleveland and its slew of amazing starters (including Cy Young favorite Shane Bieber). The writing is on the wall for a short Bomber October.
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Ethan Semendinger – I’m going to stay optimistic and say that the Yankees are going to win the Wild Card round against the Cleveland Indians. It’ll go all three games after an extremely exciting Game One in the Cole vs. Bieber match-up that the Indians will win before Tanaka and Deivi (Happ?) win Games 2 and 3 as DJ LeMahieu hits a go-ahead HR in one of the games. They’ll then go off to play the Tampa Bay Rays in San Diego in the ALDS and lose in 5 games as they’ll be at a pitching disadvantage after the Rays win in 2 over the Blue Jays. The World Series will come down to the Tampa Bay Rays against the Cincinnati Reds, with Trevor Bauer winning the WS MVP after pitching in 3 of the games (Game 1, Game 4, and Game 7 in relief) to seal the series.
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James Vlietstra –
As @talkinyanks tweeted:
Yankees 2020 regular season from start to finish:
• 16-6
• 5-15
• 10-0
• 2-6
This team has the talent to get hot and go on a run or can completely bomb.
Their hot streaks coincided with playing at home. However, they will not host any playoff games at Yankees Stadium.
As much as I want the Yankees to win 13 more games and win a 28th World Series Championship, they had the 10th best record in MLB.
Playoff baseball is all about what team can get hot for 4 weeks. They have the players in place that can go on a serious run:
Their starting pitching, 1-5 compares with almost anyone.
Their bullpen when performing at its best is a top 3-4.
Their offense features the MLB average and homerun champs along with a plethora of big name stars that battled injuries and down years.
All that being said, I don’t see them being consistent enough to make it past the divisional round.
