MLB storylines to keep an eye on for ALCS Game 1 and NLCS Game 2

Do you know how to welcome the new working week particularly well? With two LCS games!

On Monday we travel from coast to coast, with the Dodgers beginning the second game of their NLCS matchup with the Mets in Los Angeles, before looking across the country for the Yankees-Guardians ALCS opener in the Bronx. Don’t let the fact that these series are just beginning make you think that these games are less important than those that come later. In a week, perhaps we will all realize that each of these series took its decisive turn in Game 1.

Here’s the biggest storyline for each of the four teams playing on Monday.

ALCS Game 1: Guardians at Yankees
7:38 p.m. ET, TBS
SP: Alex Cobb (CLE) vs. Carlos Rodon (NYY)

Guardians: Is “Guards Ball” potential kryptonite for the Yankees?
Just looking at how they fit together position by position, the Guardians won’t be ahead of the Yankees. Cleveland has a star, José Ramírez, and a slew of complementary players. What’s special about these complementary players, however, is that they fit into a platoon quite well. That opens up all sorts of options for rookie manager Stephen Vogt when playing against a team like the Yankees that tends to employ a traditional, top-heavy rotation And align.

New York is not a team built for the type of “pitching chaos” that the Tigers used against the Guardians in the ALDS, which actually caused Cleveland some problems. Detroit could mix and match just like them. The Yankees, on the other hand, have their guys and they’re sticking with them. The Guardians will therefore have a much different lineup in Game 1 against Rodón than they did against Gerrit Cole in Game 2, with the opportunity for someone like ALDS hero David Fry (.996 OPS vs. LHP this season) to do some damage. This flexibility should be of great use to Cleveland throughout the series.

And Cleveland’s bullpen is balanced more versatile, not to mention dominant. Guards Ball means coming at you from all possible directions. This could cause more trouble for the Yankees than many might think, starting with Game 1.

Yankees: Seriously, when is Aaron Judge going to get going?
Derek Jeter had his Mr. November home run. Reggie Jackson had his three-homer game. Do you even remember how great Alex Rodriguez was in the 2009 postseason? (19 for 52, .365 average, five doubles, six home runs, 18 RBIs, 12 walks, in case you forgot.) The point is if you want to achieve in theory (and possibly not in reality). When you have real Yankee status, or at least whatever A-Rod landed in the Bronx, you need a few postseason moments.

Judges, as we constantly repeat, He may have just had the best season by a right-handed hitter ever. But not only does he lack that memorable postseason moment, his postseason numbers are so far below his career numbers that they seem like they’re coming from a completely different man. In 48 career playoff games – that’s almost a third of an entire season! – The judge applied a .207/.316/.446 slash line. He is 2-13 this year after going 1-16 in the ALCS loss to the Astros two years ago.

We’ve seen Judge struggle in the past, and in the end he finds his footing and instantly transforms into the monster we all know and love. The The judge can oversee a team for an entire series or even a whole month. The Yankees have made it this far without getting anything from Judge. They won’t make it much further if they don’t start getting it soon.

NLCS Game 2: Mets at Dodgers (LAD up 1-0)
4:08 p.m. ET, FOX and FS1
SP: Sean Manaea (NYM) vs. TBA (LAD)

Mets: Can they keep their heads from spinning?
The Mets didn’t expect to get too many innings from Kodai Senga in Game 1; After all, the guy had thrown 7 1/3 major league innings all season up to that point. But it’s fair to say they were hoping it would take fewer than three pitchers to get their first seven outs… and that they wouldn’t be down 6-0 before getting their first hit.

The Mets had had such success. Over a 10-day period, they clinched a playoff spot in a makeup doubleheader in Atlanta, won a winner-take-all Wild Card Series Game 3 in Milwaukee, and defeated the rival Phillies in an NLDS surprise. But the three days they were able to rest before the NLCS made them seem almost like Wile E. Coyote, finally having the opportunity to look down and realize they were floating in the air over a canyon.

The Mets were blown away so quickly in Game 1 that one wonders if they are finally realizing how crazy that run has been for them. That being said, all they could hope for from a two-game set at Dodger Stadium was separation, and no matter how bad Game 1 was, after all, it was just one game and just one loss. These Mets face a battle in this series, but they’ve been in tougher situations before. It’s time for them to settle in and get to work.

Dodgers: Can this sensational pitching run possibly continue?
You may have heard that the Dodgers pitching hasn’t allowed a run in…a while. Thirty-three innings, to be exact. If they keep the Mets off the field in Game 2 in the top of the first, they will actually move past the 1966 Orioles and hold the sole postseason record.

But one can only hope the Dodgers don’t get too excited about the lucky advantage they had in Game 1 against the Mets when Jack Flaherty faced a patchwork mound team, because that’s what will happen in the next two games Turn the page. With Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitching in Game 5 of the NLDS on Friday, it will be quite a challenge for manager Dave Roberts to put things together between now and then.

Flaherty’s seven strong innings certainly help, allowing Roberts to pitch a bullpen game on Monday before Tuesday’s travel day, saving Walker Buehler (who has been shaky all year) for Game 3. The Dodgers bullpen has been outstanding this postseason. And it’s not like the Mets are exactly ripping the cover off the ball, but that’s quite a load to carry. Can they move on and make more history?