Future American League Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber will take the mound for Cleveland in Game 1 vs. the New York Yankeees.
The Cleveland Baseball Club is hosting the New York Yankees in the first round of the MLB Playoffs. It will be a battle of Aces as Shane Bieber starts for Cleveland and Gerrit Cole starts for New York.
Shane Bieber has a pretty impressive track record against the Yankees in the past. Tyler Wade and Luke Voit are really the only bats in the lineup who have made him pay. Wade is 2-3 with a double and Voit is 1-2 with a double and 2 RBI. DJ Lemahieu is also 1-2 with a run driven in. In regards to the big bats in the lineup Bieber has kept them quiet. Gleyber Torres, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gary Sanchez are a combined 0-8 when facing Bieber.
Something worth noting when it comes to Shane Bieber. The last time the Yankees saw Bieber he was not the current version of himself. Bieber has taken a massive step forward which has led to him being a near lock for the AL Cy Young and even is getting MVP consideration. Shane Bieber even completed the MLB pitching Triple Crown so it is safe to say that they will have a much tougher test than their previous matchups.
The Yankees will start Gerrit Cole and in the past he has been an absolute nightmare for Cleveland. As a team they are slashing .089/.159/.128/.287 in 60 at-bats against Cole. Francisco Lindor is 1-10, Roberto Perez is 1-11, Jose Ramirez is 1-7, and Carlos Santana is 1-6. Delino DeShields, Austin Hedges, Cesar Hernandez, Oscar Mercado, and Tyler Naquin are a combined 0-14 with 5 strikeouts. While Cole has allowed an alarming amount of home runs this season (14 in 12 games), the track record from Cleveland does not necessarily indicate they will have the same success as the AL and NL East opponents Cole faced this season.h
