The New York Yankees have advanced to the World Series after defeating the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Championship Series.
Yankee Stadium is known for its short porch in right field, and the Yankees tend to load up on lefty power hitters to take advantage of this.
Tigers’ Manager A.J. Hinch revealed his thoughts about facing this Yankees lineup and described the danger zone of the lineup.
“One of the things to beat the Yankees is if you can just control the wrap-around at-bat,” Hinch said.
A.J. Hinch talked about facing the Yankees in Yankee Stadium and the danger zone of their lineup. pic.twitter.com/Iq1tS0A8Te
Hinch goes on to explain that if you can keep the back end of the Yankees lineup off of the bases, including Gleyber Torres at the top, you can avoid any big damage from Juan Soto and Aaron Judge.
He goes on to express that when Giancarlo Stanton is as hot as he is, it just lengthens that middle-of-the-lineup danger zone.
Most teams will set their focus on containing Soto and Judge out of the two and three spots in the lineup, but with Stanton hitting four home runs in the ALCS, he adds another name to worry about.
The Yankees have home run power from top to bottom as shown by their Major League Baseball leading 237 home runs during the regular season.
Hinch appears to believe the home runs will come no matter what but limiting the home runs to solo home runs can be the difference in a game and the entire series.
The Dodgers and Manager Dave Roberts will be tasked with coming up with a game plan to contain these three power hitters in the middle of this Yankees lineup.