They will line up favored to do it again. The Astros are the top seed and will have home field advantage starting with Game 1 on Wednesday night. They have the deepest pitching staff, and fewer question marks entering the lineup. Overall, the Yankees boasted a better offense in 2022, but it came with serious peaks and valleys. Aaron Judge was the stalwart in his historic 62-homer season. He’ll lead the charge against Astros ace Justin Verlander — coming off his own impressive season — in Game 1. Verlander struggled through a subpar start against the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS and now has plenty of time to work on mechanical issues which apparently troubled him that day. Jameson Taillon will start for the Yankees after using starters Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes Jr. in the last two ALDS games against Cleveland. In the Astros lineup, the biggest threat is Yordan Alvarez. His thunderous performance in the ALDS included two huge game-winning homers. One thing to watch will be the Yankees roster that has changed due to injuries. Outfielder Aaron Hicks is out after injuring his knee in ALDS Game 5. Rookie shortstop Oswald Peraza is in. Also in: Trade deadline acquisition Frankie Montas, who has struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness since joining New York in August. The game starts at 7:37 p.m. ET on TBS. Follow live on Yahoo Sports. Want to catch up on October’s top stories? We got you covered.
