ALDS Game 1 Reactions: Yankees win even as best-laid plans go awry

Game 1 of the ALDS did not go to plan for the Yankees . Aaron Judge struggled, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Gerrit Cole looked shaky, laboring through five innings, yielding four runs and a whole lot of loud contact.

And yet, winning when things don't go to plan actually was part of the plan for this iteration of the Yankees. Coming off a disappointing 2023 campaign in which the Yankees needed Cole and Judge to be superhuman to win, the goal for the 2024 Yankees was to build a roster that would often win because of the excellence of their tentpole stars, but could also win when they faltered. To wit, on a day where the best versions of Cole and Judge were absent, the Yankees found a way to win thanks almost exclusively to the efforts of players who weren't around the last time this team sniffed October.

Cole's shakiness came as a major surprise. The ace right-hander appeared to have dialed in over the season's final two months, running a 2.25 ERA and .503 OPS allowed across his final ten starts. He flat out dominated in his last two outings, yielding just four hits and one run over 15.2 innings.

He never looked comfortable on Saturday night. During his first run through the Kansas City lineup, the Royals' hitters hunted Cole's fastball, with success. They spit on anything that wasn't a heater and swung with abandon at anything hard, coming away with a fistful of barreled balls, though just one run to show for it through the game's first two innings.

Facing an aggressive KC lineup that hit heaters much better than breaking pitches in the regular season, I expected to see Cole mix in his slider and curve more during his subsequent trips through the Royals' order. But Cole never seemed to trust his slider. He leaned on his curve a bit, but any slider he uncorked seemed to either find the heart of the plate or wind up well out of the zone.

The result was a fastball-heavy approach that fed right into this KC lineup's hands. Cole could have managed if he had his best command, but he failed to consistently locate his four-seamer above hitters' barrels, or his cutter in on the hands of lefties. He induced just six whiffs, the second-lowest mark he's ever managed since he was traded from Pittsburgh to Houston seven seasons ago. Ultimately, Cole's line of five innings, seven hits, four runs (three earned), two walks and four strikeouts painted an accurate picture of his performance.

There's not as much to analyze with Judge's poor game, as there's only so much to say about one hitter's play in one game relative to that of a starting pitcher. That said, Judge didn't get many mistakes to hit, as the Royals' pitchers understandably pitched him very carefully. In fact, KC's hurlers managed some of their best work against Judge. His three strikeouts came against a nasty 3-2 changeup from Michael Wacha, an equally filthy change from Michael Lorenzen, and some well-located 99 mph cheddar from Lucas Erceg:

Of course, Judge is the best hitter on the planet, and you'd hope that even when his opponents are making great pitches, he'd find a way to beat them. This was one game, and for now, just chalk it up as an instance of Judge having an off-game on the same day the opposition brought its A-game.

Had I told you before the game that Cole would get hit around and Judge would ring himself up a hat trick, I'd have forgiven you for chalking up Game 1 as a loss. That the Yankees still found a way to win is testament to the more balanced nature of this roster compared to some of the more recent versions.

The Yankees' vastly improved offense this year largely came down to the incomparable Juan Soto, who went 3-for-5 on the night. But it was contributions from elsewhere that propelled the Yankees to victory in Game 1. Crucial was Alex Verdugo, who rewarded Aaron Boone's faith with two singles and a walk, including what proved to be the game-winning single in the seventh:

Scoring on that play was Jazz Chisholm Jr., who singled, stole second ( barely ), and motored home on Verdugo's liner.

Also vital was Austin Wells' work, with the slumping catcher choosing the right time to reverse course with a productive game. He tied the contest twice, once with a bases-loaded walk in the fifth, and again with a big RBI single in the sixth.

The Yankees turned to Tommy Kahnle with a one-run lead in the eighth, but when the right-hander issued a two-out walk, Boone wasted no time going to his top relief dog in Luke Weaver. Weaver looked outstanding after moving into the closer role in September, absolutely painting the corners with his four-seam fastball, and toying with hitters with his potent changeup.

The story was the same against Kansas City. Weaver faced four batters and hardly gave any of them anything to hit, showcasing every bit of his top-tier command. The pivotal moment in the ninth was Weaver fighting back from down 3-0 against Bobby Witt Jr., with the young star threatening to earn a free pass and put pressure on the Yankees on the base paths. Instead, Weaver brought the count to full and then struck out Witt with a dastardly 97-mph fastball at the knees, a nigh-unhittable pitch:

Verdugo, Chisholm, Weaver, and Wells all were acquired or promoted in the last 13 months, and they filled the gaps behind the Yankees' stars. While Verdugo was unproductive for most of 2024, the rest of that quartet had quality seasons. They form a cast of strong supporting players that was nonexistent last year, and is now in place to propel the team on nights when Plan A doesn't come to fruition.