The Yankees used smart pitching strategy throughout the ALCS to control matchups and avoid giving dangerous hitters anything to hit. Early in Game 2, Gerrit Cole pitched around Andrés Giménez with first base open, choosing to face a righty instead. It worked, leading to a popout and strikeout to end the threat. Later, Clay Holmes did the same thing. With Giménez up again, Holmes carefully avoided the zone, knowing Austin Hedges was on deck. Hedges struck out, ending the inning. The Yankees consistently chose when to challenge hitters and when to avoid them, even intentionally loading the bases multiple times when they preferred the next matchup.
Manager Aaron Boone confirmed this plan wasn’t random. They were fine walking big bats like José Ramírez or Josh Naylor to take their chances with someone weaker. The approach paid off. In one moment, they intentionally walked Ramírez after only one pitch just to get to the bottom of the lineup. High-stakes decisions, but they got the outs they needed. Even in Game 5, when Giancarlo Stanton stepped in with two outs and two bases open, everyone watching knew the right move was to walk him. Instead, the Guardians pitched to him. Bad pitch, big mistake. Stanton crushed a two-run homer that ended their season. He finished the series with five home runs out of 10 hits.
The Guardians made similar attempts to manipulate matchups but didn’t execute as well. Early in the series, they walked DJ LeMahieu to get to Aaron Judge. That failed too. The Yankees not only had firepower but also picked their battles wisely. Stanton kept punishing mistakes, and the Guardians gave him too many chances. When you pitch to a guy like that with no need to, and he already has a record of destroying mistakes, that’s on you.