Ramirez Player Prop Is Best Look In Game 2 Of ALCS

Guardians vs. Yankees, 7:38 ET

Guardians vs. Yankees, 7:38 ET

I went just 1-1 on the diamond yesterday. In the Dodgers game, I had the under for the first five innings, and it was dead relatively quickly. The Mets didn’t allow the Dodgers to keep their scoreless inning streak alive as they jumped out to a lead in the first at-bat of the game, having Francisco Lindor set the tone, as usual, for the team. That series is tied 1-1. Now we have the other Championship Series, this one in the American League, and we have the Guardians facing the Yankees in Game 2.

The Guardians are also looking to tie up the series. Yesterday they lost the opener of the series 5-2. The Guardians offense got very little going. In this first game, they did get six hits, but couldn’t muster a lot of them together in any inning. Their nine hitter was the most productive player in the lineup. Brayan Rocchio went 2-for-3 in the game with a solo homer. He is hitting .421 for the playoffs, and has had a hit in every game this postseason. It may be time for him to move up in the lineup. Outside of two innings no one on the Guardians even reached second base. If the Yankees did give up a hit, they were able to limit the damage. Tonight they have Tanner Bibee taking the ball with hopes of evening up the series. Bibee went 12-8 in the regular season with a 3.47 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP with 187 strikeouts. He has made two postseason starts, both of them against the Tigers. He went a total of 8.2 innings in those games and allowed a total of two earned runs in the games. Bibee never faced the Yankees during the regular season, and has only faced them 17 total times. The team is 6-for-17 against him with one homer and one double.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 23:  Gerrit Cole #45 of the New York Yankees reacts after the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on May 23, 2023 in Bronx borough of New York City. Cole recorded his 2000th strikeout to end the second inning. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

The Yankees are up a game in the series, won the first playoff series, and now have their sights set on getting a commanding lead in this one. Here’s the thing, the Yankees actually aren’t even playing to their full potential because Aaron Judge is basically an absentee hitter right now. In five playoff games, Judge is just 2-for-15, having virtually nothing offered to him that is truly hittable. He does have six walks, but has matched that with six strikeouts. He only has one extra-base hit for the postseason, and it wasn’t a homer. He just drove in his first run of the playoffs. When you are 4-1 in the playoffs, and your best player, the league MVP, has done very little for you, you should count your blessings. If he starts to roll, and Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton maintain what they’ve been doing, the Yankees will easily win the World Series. That is, if their pitching holds up as well. Gerrit Cole, their ace, is taking the hill tonight. He didn’t have the best season by his standards, but he had a good enough year with an 8-5 record, 3.41 ERA, and a 1.13 WHIP. He faced the Royals tice in the playoffs this year and went a total of 12 innings, allowing four earned runs. The Yankees won both of his starts. He did face the Guardians earlier in the year and held them to one hit in six scoreless innings. He did issue five walks, but obviously no damage was done.

There aren’t a ton of hitters that have done well against Cole in his career. Jose Ramirez is the one Guardian hitter you always need to watch out for, and Cole doesn’t really have an edge on him either. Ramirez is 12-for-34 with six extra-base hits against him. I do think he will be able to get some hits today off of the Cole. We cashed a prop on Soto yesterday and I’m going back in Game 2 with over 1.5 total bases from Ramirez at +140.