The Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees both trimmed their ALDS rosters ahead of Game 1 at Tropicana Field, and Tampa Bay’s choices came with a few notable twists.
The Rays will open the American League Division Series on Saturday with 14 position players and 12 pitchers. Garrett Cleavinger and Tyler Wells both made the cut after dealing with injuries, but Shane McClanahan was left off the roster as he continues to work his way back from an injury of his own.
Tampa Bay also left off Casey Legumina, Manuel Rodriguez, and Brody Hopkins. Hopkins stood out as the biggest surprise among the omissions, given the different look his velocity could have offered the staff. Still, his higher walk rate appears to have weighed into the decision for Kevin Cash and his coaches.
Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander acknowledged earlier this week that the roster process would not be simple. Speaking with local Tampa Bay radio, he said, "We are going to have to make some tough calls."
The Yankees had their own headline decision, and it was the obvious one: Aaron Judge is not on the ALDS roster. The outfielder is dealing with a right calf strain and did not appear in the Wild Card series against the Boston Red Sox, which New York swept earlier this week. Judge would only be available if another player were removed because of injury, and that appears highly unlikely since he has not played since September 16th.
Game 1 carries extra weight for both clubs. In MLB playoff history, the winner of the first game in a best-of-five series has gone on to take the series 73% of the time.
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