Thoughts following ALCS Game 5

(Photo via Presswire)

Damn, I love that photo. I have no idea whether the Yankees will actually complete this ALCS comeback, but they're not dead yet. They punched back in Game 5 last night and sent the series back to Houston. Here are today's thoughts from 30,000 feet (apologies in advance for any formatting weirdness, I had to finish this on my phone).

1. Big Game James. Aaron Boone coming out to talk to James Paxton and leaving him in the game was a top five moment this season. Maybe top three. It's up there with what? The Aaron Hicks catch in Minnesota, certainly. The inning Aaron Judge and Didi Gregorius took Colin Poche deep to take control of the AL East is up there too. I think that's it? Either way, Boone came out to talk to Paxton with 111 high-stress pitches on his arm, left him in the game, and the Yankee Stadium crowd erupted. It was as loud as I've ever heard the ballpark. And then it almost backfired when Robinson Chirinos crushed a slider to the wall in left field. Hooray for the unjuiced baseball. Paxton was all over the place in the first inning and I was thinking bad things. He was similarly wild early in Game 2 and couldn't get through the third inning. Paxton was able to right the ship and land his cutter for strikes after that, and he got some swings and misses on elevated fastballs. (Paxton threw 75 fastballs among his 112 pitches, which is an awful lot given his recent emphasis on the curveball.) The Astros didn't make it easy on him at all -- Paxton threw 56 pitches in the first two innings and did not have a single 1-2-3 inning -- but he held them to 1-for-14 with a walk with men on base. Paxton turned the Astros into the Games 2-4 Yankees for six innings, basically. Six innings, one run, nine strikeouts. The Yankees traded for this guy to be a top of the rotation piece. They were expecting impact and they got it in Game 5 on Friday night. Someone was going to have to step up and put together a quality start and pitch into the sixth inning at some point this series and Paxton did it last night. A season-saving performance, truly. "My goal was to go out there and give it everything I had for my team. I wasn't ready to go home yet, so I wanted to go out and give my team everything I had and just battle away, and that's what I did out there, and it worked out," Paxton said.

2. Saved by Hicksie. As recently as two weeks ago, we all thought Aaron Hicks was done for the season and maybe even headed for Tommy John surgery. He was an afterthought. Little did we know his rehab was progressing well enough that he was taking live at-bats against the pitchers the Yankees have staying ready in Tampa. Hicks emerged as a surprise ALCS roster candidate last week, made the roster as a bench guy, then the Giancarlo Stanton injured his quad and pushed Hicks into the starting lineup. Two walks in Game 3, two more walks and a bloop single in Game 4, then the big hit -- The Big Hit -- the Yankees had been waiting for since Game 2 in Game 5. It is incredible Hicks is having such great at-bats after missing two months. Worked a 10-pitch walk against Gerrit Cole in Game 3, battled Zack Greinke in Game 4, then went from 0-2 to 3-2 to a three-run homer against Justin Verlander in Game 5. The Yankees stranded the bases loaded in the first inning against Cole and Greinke, and it was looking like they would waste another first inning opportunity after Hicks fell behind 0-2. Verlander is so good. So, so good. He held hitters to a .106/.120/.187 batting line with a 60.8% strikeout rate after getting ahead 0-2 during the regular season. Only four homers in 250 plate appearances. The Yankees were popping up hittable pitches all throughout Game 3 and Game 4 and wasting opportunity after opportunity. Hicks jumped on a cement mixer slider and managed to keep it fair for the three-run home run. I've said this countless times over the years at RAB and it remains true: You need surprise contributions to win the World Series. Hicks coming back from possible Tommy John surgery to hit a go-ahead three-run home run against Verlander in the ALCS absolutely counts as a surprise contribution. The Yankees still have an uphill climb ahead of them, but hot damn, Hicks coming back and having an impact right away has been incredible.

3. Hicks needs surgery? Maybe he misspoke and things came out wrong -- I can certainly understand that when you're up at the podium giving a press conference -- but it sounded like Aaron Hicks admitted last night he was told he needs Tommy John surgery. Here's the full quote:

"It was to a point where I got my second opinion and it was the worst thing to hear. To hear you're going to have Tommy John and your season is going to end is something that isn't what you want to hear. Good thing I was messing around in the backyard with my buddy and kind of started throwing because if I didn't do that, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have this opportunity to play in the postseason, and grind and try to win with my team."

Last week Hicks admitted he started throwing on his own against doctor's orders. He felt good, so he sent a video to the Yankees, and they told him to get to Tampa so they could help him rehab. Up until now, all we heard was Tommy John surgery was a possibility. Now it sounds like Hicks was told definitely he needs it. There is no pregame clubhouse access in the postseason, so there's no appropriate time to follow up on this ("Hey Aaron, I know you were just eliminated, but could you clarify something for my blog?"), but geez. Think of all the dudes who were told they need Tommy John surgery, tried to rehab instead, and were not able to do it. That's what happened with Matt Harvey. Masahiro Tanaka was not one of those players. Tanaka was never told he needed elbow reconstruction. Doctors told to him to rehab his ligament tear, he did that, and the elbow has been fine ever since. Hicks was apparently told he needs surgery. That's much different. This is something to worry about another time. For now, Hicks sure looks healthy, and he's putting together great at-bats and having an impact no matter what's going on his elbow. Maybe he'll wind up having surgery down the line, or even this offseason. As long as the elbow holds up through the end of October, I don't care. Not right now. Hicks has give the offense a real nice shot in the arm (no pun intended).

4. Bullpen game. We are indeed getting a bullpen game in Game 6. Aaron Boone confirmed Luis Severino is lined up to start Game 7 and A.J. Hinch said he is "unlikely" to use Gerrit Cole on short rest in Game 6, and I took what Hinch said to mean he'll only be used in some sort of crazy emergency and not in a "haha I'm not telling you what I'm doing" way. It'll be a bullpen game tonight. My money is on Chad Green opening with J.A. Happ penciled in as the bulk innings guy. Not great! But the Yankees have no other options. Green for one inning -- he looked like he was on fumes in Game 4 and I'm not sure he can give the Yankees more than three outs right now -- and Happ for two, maybe even three (or four!) if he's really rolling, then figure it out from there. It feels like the Yankees are going to need someone to step up and give them some key outs in Game 6. Another one of those unexpected contributions I was just talking about. Maybe that's Luis Cessa throwing two innings, or Tyler Lyons striking out Michael Brantley in a big spot, or hell, even Adam Ottavino actually getting some outs. Would be cool. Houston could use Brad Peacock or Josh James as an opener -- Peacock threw an inning last night and James got hit around a bit in Game 4 -- with rookie Jose Urquidy able to chip in bulk innings. Then again, Justin Verlander completed seven innings last night and saved their bullpen. Good thing Aaron Hicks hit that home run, because Verlander settled down after that and retired 20 of the final 21 batters he faced. The Astros could, conceivably, use nine different pitchers in nine innings tonight. We'll see what happens. "Tomorrow we'll just figure it out. We'll kind of talk about it tonight on the plane which way we want to go, but it will probably be a little bit of everyone," Aaron Boone said last night.

5. Sabathia's farewell. CC Sabathia held what was essentially his farewell press conference prior to Game 5 yesterday. He was the furthest thing from upset that his career ended with an injury. "I told (my wife) Amber last night that this was the best way for it to end for me, because of the way I've been feeling -- loving the bullpen, jogging out, feeling pretty good -- I feel like about July of next year I'll be like, 'I think I can pitch.' So knowing the way I feel now, I can't. I think it's just kind of fitting. I threw until I couldn't anymore," he said. Sabathia said he hurt his shoulder on his final pitch to Aledmys Diaz, meaning he stayed in to throw three pitches to George Springer plus a test pitch despite being in so much pain. "I felt terrible," he said with a laugh. He still doesn't know the full nature or extent of the injury, or whether he needs surgery -- "Maybe get an MRI after we get back from Houston," he said casually three hours before first pitch -- but he seemed perfectly at peace with everything. His career is over, he knows it, and he knows he left everything he had on the field. Now he'll be the biggest cheerleader in the dugout. Sabathia was more than a great pitcher. He was a lovable, easy to root for, and a larger than life personality who helped unite a clubhouse that Brian Cashman admitted was fractured in 2008-09. "I threw until I couldn't anymore," is just perfect. There should be more ballplayers like him, but I'm kinda happy there aren't, because it makes Sabathia that much more special. I'm gonna miss this guy so much.

6. Sanchez's struggles. Three more hitless at-bats and another three strikeouts for Gary Sanchez in Game 5. He also couldn't block two pitches in the first inning that led to a run -- the first one clanked off his glove and has to be caught, the second was spiked in the dirt and a more difficult play -- after failing to block a pitch that allowed a run to cross the plate in Game 4. Sanchez is 3-for-28 (.107) with 15 strikeouts in the postseason and his at-bats aren't particularly competitive right now -- kinda crazy to say that after he hit the two-run home run in Game 4 -- and I worry he's starting taking his offensive struggles behind the plate defensively. Aaron Boone has said he's not going to bench Sanchez several times in the series already and I don't think he should, because Gary can snap out of it at any moment and change a game -- change the series -- with one swing. That doesn't make his struggles any easier to watch. Didi Gregorius isn't hitting, Gio Urshela isn't hitting, Brett Gardner isn't hitting, but at least they play really good defense. Edwin Encarnacion isn't hitting to the point that he was on the bench in Game 4. There are lots of guys on the interstate right now. Sanchez is having the least competitive at-bats of the bunch though, and I don't see how the Yankees can continue to make the ALCS interesting with one of their top offensive threats in this deep a funk. I don't know if the late-season groin injury threw him out of whack -- Sanchez is 4-for-34 (.117) with 19 strikeouts since returning -- or if he's just in a prolonged slump, something we've seen him do a few times now the last few years. Whatever it is, I really hope he snaps out of it soon. The Yankees should -- should -- have the advantage behind the plate in every game they play because Gary is so talented. Right now though, he's been a major drag on an offense that has a few too many anchors weighing it down.

7. Rapid fire thoughts. Huge outing from Zack Britton. Huge and efficient. Five up, five down on 18 pitches. With the bullpen game looming tonight and a potential winner-take-all Game 7 on the docket tomorrow, keeping that pitch count down was important. I've been critical of the Britton contract, mostly because he doesn't really miss bats and walks too many, but he has been money these last few weeks ... same deal with Aroldis Chapman. Three quick outs on nine pitches last night. He might be able to get 4-5 outs if necessary tonight, and still be available for a possible Game 7 ... Tommy Kahnle looked gassed last night. He threw 4.1 innings in three appearances in the five previous days, and was all over the place. Three batters and only one out, with a four-pitch walk mixed in. It might not be possible with the bullpen game, but giving Kahnle a breather tonight would be swell ... similar to the Indians in 2017, the pressure is squarely on the Astros right now. They went up 3-1 with Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole slated to start Games 5 and 7, so they are supposed to beat the Yankees. The Yankees are doomed. Except they're still alive. They beat Verlander to keep their season going last night. Now they have to go to Houston and win a bullpen game -- a bullpen game should always be advantage Yankees, but who knows how it'll play out on the field -- then in Game 7, anything can happen. Still a daunting task, especially with Cole looming for Game 7, but the Yankees aren't even supposed to be going back to Houston. This is more doable now than it was 24 hours ago. One game at a time. Get the win tonight, and go from there. "Those guys took care of business today, man. They came in and got it done. And right after the game, we do our presentations and stuff, and it was energized, it was focused, it was intense. First goal after last night was to get on the plane. And now we've got an opportunity to go play in a tough place. We look forward to that and can't wait," Aaron Boone said.