5 reasons the Yankees will beat the Twins yet again

1. Better bullpen

Neither team in this series boasts an incredibly deep starting rotation, and they will both be leaning heavily on their bullpens to come out on top. The Yankees have steadily gone all in on building a pitching staff that is tailored to the new brand of October baseball where starters are done after five innings. The Twins also have a great bullpen, but none of their key relievers have playoff experience.

The Yankees are without Dellin Betances, but the rest of their relievers are none too shabby. Their top five of Aroldis Chapman, Chad Green, Adam Ottavino, Zack Britton and Tommy Kahnle are all battle tested. In a short series they will be the only relievers pitching in big spots. All five throw hard and have the type of power pitches required to succeed in October. Most importantly, Chapman, Green, Ottavino, Britton and Kahnle are extremely difficult to homer against, which is a big part of the Twins offense.

In last seasons, ALDS, the Yankees were run out in four games by the Boston Red Sox, but it was no fault of their bullpen. Britton was a workhorse and pitched in three games, while Chapman and Green both went twice. Unless there’s a blowout in one of the games, don’t expect to see anyone but the top group appearing in relief.

The Twins and the Yankees are very evenly matched across the board, so the series should be much closer than past ALDS matchups between the franchises. If it comes down to a battle of the bullpens this year, the Yankees are the pick.