Yankees will need to outslug Twins to advance
The Yankees and Twins start their ALDS on Friday night, but will Aaron Judge and the Yankees be able to outslug the Twins?
The Minnesota Twins haven’t had much success in the past against the New York Yankees in the postseason, but they can reverse the course of that statement starting on Friday at Yankee Stadium.
The Twins hit 307 home runs in the regular season and the Yankees hit just one less.
Minnesota’s offense is led by the “Bomba Squad” which includes Nelson Cruz (41 home runs), Miguel Sano (34 home runs), and Eddie Rosario (32 home runs).
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While some may think the Yankees will easily handle the Twins, you might want to think again. Rocco Baldelli, who is in his first season as Minnesota’s manager, has so many options at his disposal that can change the game with one swing of the bat.
“The ability to change the game with one swing … I think this is going to be a fun series in that way because the two teams that are playing probably have that quality unlike any two teams maybe that have ever played the game,” skipper Rocco Baldelli said. “Numbers-wise, it’s hard to really doubt.”
The Yankees, on the other hand, have just as much power as well. Aaron Judge will yet again be leading his offense in the Bronx on Friday evening along with Giancarlo Stanton, who is just coming back from an IL stint.
This will be just the 13th time Stanton and Judge will be in the lineup together this season, but Aaron Boone is confident that his lineup will cause headaches for Twins pitchers.
“With Giancarlo and the guys we are getting back here for Game 1 I feel like our lineup has the ability to be long and to be able to wear you down just with at-bat quality,” Boone said ahead of the series. “So, that is something I am looking forward to seeing.”
I think the Yankees will be able to outslug the Twins just because they have better pitching to halt the Twins offense from doing too much damage.