The Yankees rotation is set for a massive ALCS against the Astros.
Earlier on Thursday, the Astros revealed the order their starting pitchers will appear in. Zack Greinke gets the nod in Game 1, and then he'll be followed in the subsequent games by Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole.
Aaron Boone's team will counter with Masahiro Tanaka in the opener. James Paxton will start Game 2, and Luis Severino will handle Game 3.
The full rosters for the series have not been made public, but they have to be submitted by Saturday.
The Yankees starters will be under pressure to keep pace with Houston's trio of aces. Greinke, Verlander and Cole had respective ERAs of 2.93, 2.58 and 2.50 during the regular season.
Tanaka spoke to the press Thursday evening from Houston. He talked about how he'll approach pitching in such a big game.
"It's going to be a challenge. You try not to do anything different going into the game. You prepare for it, you make your plans and you go out there and execute."
After Tanaka, Paxton and Severino will take over starting duties. Severino has looked good in the handful of starts he has made since returning from an injury in September.
The edge in starting rotations might go to Houston, but the Yankees likely have the superior bullpen. New York's relievers were a big part of their dominance in the ALDS against the Twins. Meanwhile, the Astros had to exert quite a bit more energy to get past the pesky Rays.
