There are players who approach their first taste of October baseball with the mindset that the baselines still are 90 feet long and the mound 60 feet, 6 inches from home plate — just like during the six-month regular season.
Then there is James Paxton’s outlook while preparing for his first dip in the playoff pool. Paxton’s days with the Mariners never resulted in a trip to the postseason. Now, in his first year with the Yankees, the lefty has been seeking advice on what’s in store.
“I’ve been talking to J.A. [Happ] and CC [Sabathia] about it and it is going to be intense with a lot of energy,’’ said Paxton, who until suffering a tight glute this past Friday night when he left a game against the Rangers after one inning was the heavy favorite to start Game 1 of the ALDS Friday against the Twins at Yankee Stadium. “They said not to fight it, to use that energy and be ready for it.’’
The Yankees are spending the days leading to the meeting with the home-run kings of baseball attempting to assemble the best possible roster. And while the Yankees aren’t swimming in neophytes, they don’t necessarily have to worry about their young players not knowing what to expect Friday night.
Gleyber Torres is 22 and played in five postseason games a year ago. Aaron Judge, 27, has seven homers and 15 RBIs in 18 October games. Gio Urshela, 28 on Oct. 11, played five games for the Indians in the 2017 playoffs.
Brett Gardner, whose 52 games of postseason experience are tops among Yankees players, believes even the limited taste of October helps his team.
“The young players that we do have are mostly homegrown guys,’’ Gardner said. “Obviously, we have come up short the last couple of years, but that has been really good experience for guys.’’
The Yankees won the AL wild-card game against the Twins in 2017, climbed out of a 0-2 hole in the ALDS to beat the Indians and got to the ALCS, where they lost the first two, won the next three and missed a trip to the World Series by losing the final two games to the Astros. Last year the Yankees topped the A’s in the wild-card game and got ushered into the offseason by losing three of four to the Red Sox in the ALDS.
According to Gardner, bringing back Zack Britton, CC Sabathia and Happ from last year’s club and signing free agents Adam Ottavino and DJ LeMahieu added to the collection of players who have been through the October pressure cooker that can smother people.
“They have been through postseason baseball before so they have an idea of what to expect,’’ Gardner said. “They will be ready for it and how we get prepared.’’
While questions and answers flow freely from those who have been there and others who haven’t, Gardner said it is best not to overload the brain regarding what changes when the stakes rise.“We talk about those kind of things, but you try to keep it as simple as possible. It is the same game, but at the same time everything is magnified and obviously there is a lot on the line,’’ Gardner said. “Playing the last few years you have a better idea what to expect. We have a relatively young team, but most guys have experience playing in meaningful games and hopefully it pays off in October.’’