There were MLB games on the slate on Sunday, but that didn’t stop the WFAN airwaves from lighting up in anticipation of the Division Series that start Monday. Ron Darling will do the Yankees-Rays series on TBS, and in a chat with Sweeny Murti and Ed Coleman Sunday afternoon on WFAN, Darling noted how the teams' hatred of each other will set the tone.
"I think it will make for a real compelling series. In this day and age with more camaraderie, this will be the opposite, like watching the Yankees and Red Sox in 1978," Darling said. "It's going to be chippy, and I think all of those little things players can do to get under the other team's skin will be done in this series, but I think the umpires will be quick to act, too, if anything happens."
Chippiness aside, Darling also had to note how the Rays have been a big challenge for the Yankees, perhaps in part because they are a throwback in a league full of three true outcomes.
“They are fun, and they do some of the things you don’t see much anymore; they go first to third, score on doubles, and they’re a very good defensive team,” Darling said. “And they had 12 different pitchers who had a save this year, and then in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, Pete Fairbanks made 13. You don’t want to fall into that rut of calling them overachievers, because they have very good players.”
So, then, the Yankees have to set the tone in Game 1 with Gerrit Cole, who needs to be a horse no matter how good or bad the score may be at any time, and no matter how much that may affect his chances of pitching a winner take all Game 5.
“In looking at the Yankees, the first thing I thought is, ‘what happens if they get a big lead and they take Cole out early?’” Darling wondered. “I don’t think you do it. For 20 years, the Yankees, if they had a lead after seven innings, the game was over. That’s not as much the case now, and the best way to get Game 1 is to make sire Cole is out there as long as he can be out there; you save those bullpen arms, because you’re playing every day, and you worry about Game 5 when you get there.”
Tampa Bay may have an advantage when it comes to the depth of their pitching staff, but without a bulldog like Cole (or maybe Masahiro Tanaka), that depth is going to be tested early and often.
“The depth or their pitching staff, and ability to use anyone at any time, is an advantage, but when you look at Snell and Glasnow, they’re looking at getting 15 to 18 outs,” Darling said. “So, for Kevin Cash, he’s going to have to possibly throw some guys three or four days in a row, so while they have that depth, they’re going to be pushed more than they have been.”
And to a point Aaron Boone often made coming down the stretch, home field advantage here really means little, given that neither team is built for Petco Park, which is still a hitter’s park.
“We’re going to have something early in the broadcast with all the Yankees’ home runs to right and right center field at Yankee Stadium, and overlay it onto Petco Park to see if they would be home runs,” Darling said. “I don’t think it’s a plus, but the Yankees have so much slug that I don’t see how the park will come into play that much. The Yankees are big and strong, and maybe they won’t get the occasional cheap one to right field – but more importantly to me, the Rays outfield is strong and can cover that ground, but the Yankees have to prove they can cover that ground too.”
Given how the games will begin late afternoon Pacific time, that, too, can be an X-factor.
“I think that will be a factor. You have to remember, that they’re trying to do their workouts this afternoon around game time to get used to it,” Darling said. “We often talk about shadows in the hitter vs. pitcher realm, but we never talk about outfielders having to see a ball come out of darkness. Without people in the ballpark, outfielders have to communicate like they’ve never communicated before, and take nothing for granted.”
Listen to Darling’s entire segment below, and get ready – Game 1 of the ALDS is set for 8 p.m. Monday, and it can be heard on WFAN and all streaming platforms starting at 7:25 with the Pregame Show!
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