Daily dose of Yordan (ALDS Game 1)

Today's statline: 2-3, HR, 2B, 2 RBIs, 2 R, K

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At bat 1 (Bottom of second): 6 pitch walk, R

On yesterday's ALDS preview DDoY I wrote that the key for Yordan against Lynn would be to not swing at bad fastballs out of the zone, and he backed up that point entirely in this at bat. Lynn's first two pitches in the at bat were inside fastballs near his hands that Yordan could have easily swung at and grounded out weakly, but he took them both to get ahead commandingly 2-0. He then chopped one foul to make it a 2-1 count, and then watched another fastball outside for a ball. Ahead in the count, Yordan could afford to swing away, so he launched a fastball in the zone foul to make the count full, and then watched a low fastball outside to take the walk. Great job by him to do exactly what I said would be important for him to do, taking all the junk outside for balls and forcing Lynn to either pitch to him or make him pay. He would advance to third on good baserunning (including going to third on a Tucker lineout) and scored the game's first run on a Meyers RBI single. Great start to the game for both him and the Astros.

At bat 2 (Bottom of third) 3 pitch double to center, RBI

Facing Lynn again in the top of the third, Yordan again did a great job capitalizing on Lynn's lack of command on his fastball, taking one low and one high out of the zone to put him ahead 2-0. Such luxury gave him the opportunity to swing away, and Lynn threw him a meatball high in the zone that he crushed deep into center field for a hard RBI double. If Yordan had waited back on it he probably could have hit it out, but nonetheless it still scored Bregman and he easily cruised to second on the stand up double. Although he wouldn't score in the inning (Gurriel struck out and Correa grounded out) this was another great effort by him here to work into a good count, giving him the luxury of swinging at a good pitch and keep the line moving.

At bat 3 (Bottom of fifth): 5 pitch home run to right, RBI, R

Having knocked Lynn out of the game the inning prior, Yordan got the luxury of facing Reynaldo Lopez in the fifth instead, someone who (like most of the White Sox pitching staff) has an electric fastball but questionable command and secondary pitches. Yordan started the at bat off by swinging and missing at a fastball high in the zone, before taking another one borderline outside to even the count. After taking a slider inside (very borderline call) for a strike to put him down 1-2, Yordan watched that same pitch but more inside to make it a 2-2 count. Then, on the 5th pitch Lopez went back to the slider well one too many times, as he hung one right over the lower half of the plate. Yordan shoveled (looked like he scooped it out of the ground at first) it into right field for a 411 feet, no doubt bomb that served as an exclamation point on his amazing night. After being fed fastball after fastball all day it was great to see him do damage on the lone offspeed pitches he got so far.

At bat 4 (Bottom of sixth): 4 pitch strikeout looking

With Lopez having excited the game prior to Yordan's second at bat, this meant Yordan had to face Garrett Crochet out of the bullpen, and it went about as well as you would expect. Crochet targeted high and outside but in the zone against Yordan, and he seemed a bit overwhelmed by the 98 MPH heat at first, watching one for a strike and then swinging and missing at another. He somewhat recovered by watching one for a ball low and inside, but then he watched a nasty slider fall right into the upper half of the strike zone for called strike 3. A disappointing way to end an otherwise amazing game, but Crochet was probably Yordan's toughest lefty matchup in the series and the fact that he had to face 2 innings today means he will probably be out for games 2 and 3, which is a relief.

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Pitch data:

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Fastball: 12

8 taken for ball, 2 foul, 1 strike swinging, 1 put in play (double)

Slider: 4

2 taken for strike, 1 taken for ball, 1 put in play (home run)

Not surprising at all to see Yordan being fed a steady diet of fastballs from Chicago's righties, as that was outlined as one of the most important factors in how the ALDS would be decided. I was surprised and very impressed by his discipline on them, however, as he took an amazing 8/12 for balls and had a very nice swing on all the other ones. For some areas of growth though, he did look a little passive against the offspeed pitch when it was used early, and he looked completely lost against Crochet for most of the 4th at bat. Those are minor flaws to pick apart though, and Yordan was just amazing today for 90% of the game. A triumphant first postseason game back, hopefully the start of a legendary postseason run.