15 Reasons Why The New York Yankees Lost In The ALCS

New York Yankees, Gleyber Torres
Oct 7, 2019; Minneapolis, MN, USA; New York Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres (25) looks on during the seventh inning of game three of the 2019 ALDS playoff baseball series against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: David Berding-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Yankees have lost to the Houston Astros in six games in the 2019 ALCS, ending their season. Overall, the team played extremely poor in the ALCS, and here are 15 reasons why the Yankees lost the series (in no particular order).

Jose Altuve

First, we’ll start with the most immediate reason why the Yankees lost the series. After DJ LeMahieu tied the game with a two run home-run in the top of the ninth in game six, Jose Altuve hit a two run shot with two outs on a 2-1 slider thrown by Aroldis Chapman. It was just the fourth home run surrendered by Chapman this season.

There are a lot of questions to weather Altuve should of been pitched to or just intentionally walked. Jake Marisnick came in to pinch run for Michael Brantley in the prior inning, and was on deck. Marisnick is not nearly as dangerous (if at all) compared to Altuve.

Umpiring

You can’t really blame umpiring for the result of a series, but the strike zone was so inconsistent all series. It helped and hurt both teams, but it seemed that the Astros got more favorable calls.

That umpiring is completely unacceptable, nonetheless in the ALCS.

Batting Order

Aaron Boone couldn’t stick with a consistent batting order all series. For example, Gleyber Torres hit in three different batting slots, and Brett Gardner bat as high as third and as low as ninth. Players thrive off of consistency in the batting order.

In comparison, Astros skipper AJ Hinch only made a few minor tweaks to his lineup all series.

Starting Pitching

The starting pitching this series for the Yankees was by no means ideal. They got a good start out of Masahiro Tanaka in game one, but James Paxton and Luis Severino pitched bad in games two and three. Tanaka wasn’t great in game four, but Paxton was pretty good in game five.

If they had starters who pitched better and deeper into games, there would be a lot less stress on the bullpen and less fatigue.

Lack Of Offense

Except for DJ LeMahieu, the Yankee offense was terrible all series. Gleyber Torres had the big hits in game one, Judge had a big hit in game two, and Hicks had a bit hit in game five. That’s it. Nobody else had anything until game six. Gio Urshela, Gary Sanchez, Edwin Encarnacion, Didi Gregorius, and Brett Gardner had nothing.

Swinging For The Fences

Guys came up to bat all series with one intention: hit a home-run. Everybody but LeMahieu was just completely swinging out of their shoes. They were also swinging at literally everything. If guys had a better approach and didn’t try and hit the ball 500 feet every time they came up to the plate, they may of actually gotten hits.

Not Preparing And Stretching Relievers

Relief pitchers were not adequately prepared for postseason pitching. When Tommy Kahnle pitched three days in a row, that was the first time a pitcher did so all season. I’m not saying do it consistently, but high leverage guys should try pitching three days in a row a few times a season to be prepared for the postseason.

Giancarlo Stanton

You can’t blame Giancarlo Stanton for his injury, but he looked really bad up at the plate in the two games he played. He did have a game one home run, but was otherwise lost at the plate. He was taking too many hard swings at balls not in the zone.

Edwin Encarnacion

Edwin Encarnacion undoubtedly was the worst player on the Yankees roster. He registered just one hit in five games, and struck out a bazillion times. He would take fastballs down the middle before swinging at crap in the dirt or high and inside. When he did swing, he swung completely out of his shoes.

Didi Gregorius

Didi had a handful of hits throughout the series, but couldn’t come through in several big spots. He rolled over to the right side at least three times in the series with the bases loaded, and all of which I believe were on the first pitch. If he came through in those situations or at least took a few pitches, it could of significantly changed the outcome of the series.

Gary Sanchez

Like Encarnacion, Gary Sanchez looked very lost at the plate. He had a home run in game four and an RBI single in game six, but his at-bats were embarrassing otherwise.

On defense, he looked like the Gary of old: passed balls and having difficulties blocking pitches.

Adam Ottavino

Adam Ottavino was really bad in the ALCS. With the exception of game six, he couldn’t locate his pitches and it resulted in several hits and walks. When he came into games, it would become the start of a really bad inning.

Domingo German

Domingo German wasn’t on the Yankees postseason roster, but let the Yankees down by not being on it. He was suspended by the MLB for violating their abuse policy. Missing an 18 game winner is huge for a team, and his impact would of sure been felt on the mound.

Defense

The Yankees infield defense wasn’t great, especially in games four and five. They had four errors in game four, and a few crucial misplays at the start of game five despite the fact they won.

Not Wanting To Spend

Part of the Yankees postseason failures were in part of not wanting to spend money and pull the plug on trades. The Yankees stayed quiet at the trade deadline, failing to pick up a starting pitcher like in the off-season. If Brian Cashman was willing to deal guys like Clint Frazier at the deadline, the Yankees could of had more guys ready to make a postseason impact.