Unlike J.A. Happ, Masahiro Tanaka and Luis Severino, the three candidates to start Wednesday night’s AL wild-card game against the A’s at Yankee Stadium, two main cogs in the Yankees’ lineup have never tasted the postseason atmosphere.
Third baseman Miguel Andujar is 23 and second baseman Gleyber Torres is 21. They will make their postseason debuts against the A’s in the Yankees’ biggest game of the season.
Aaron Hicks got his first whiff of the postseason last year when the Yankees advanced to Game 7 of the ALCS and lost. His advice to the neophytes is direct.
“It’s kind of like Opening Day. You are excited for the game and excited to get the season going and you are a little nervous about the game,’’ said Hicks, who went 1-for-3 with an RBI in last fall’s wild-card game against the Twins, his former team. “But it’s all that and 10 times more.”
How does Hicks think Andujar, a legitimate AL Rookie of the Year candidate who batted .297 with 27 homers, 92 RBIs and a .855 OPS, and Torres (.271 with 24 homers, 77 RBIs and a .820 OPS) will handle being part of a game that carries heavy weight?
“They have played in Yankees-Red Sox series,” Hicks said Sunday. “That’s as exciting as it gets.”
Andujar was slated to start the season at Triple-A but was promoted to the big leagues three games in. Following a sluggish spring training, Torres played 17 games at Triple-A before reaching the big leagues April 22.
Suffice to say they haven’t experienced what they will Wednesday night in front of a packed Yankee Stadium jacked on adrenaline and party favors.
“As much as you try to tell yourself it’s just another game, it isn’t,’’ Hicks said.
Hicks was in center field when the Twins struck for three runs in the first inning against Luis Severino in last year’s wild-card game.
“I almost passed out,” Hicks said.
Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson — so good in the postseason he is known as “Mr. October” — said Andujar won’t be overwhelmed.
“The kid has a chance to be great. He has a chance to hit 30 home runs, a chance to drive in 100 runs and hit .300,” Jackson said in the Yankees’ clubhouse at Fenway Park.
This postseason won’t be the end for CC Sabathia, a decision he made “in the middle of the year.”
“I want to keep going,’’ the 38-year-old Sabathia said after contemplating making this his final season if the Yankees won the World Series. “Once I knew I could hold up physically, I decided to play again.”
And while he once wanted to return only to the Yankees, the future free agent is open to playing elsewhere now, since he is determined to end his career after 2019. He received interest from the Blue Jays and Angels last winter when he was a free agent.
“I don’t care where I play,” Sabathia said. “It’ll be my last year, so I don’t mind pitching somewhere else.”
As for why he’s sure next season will be it, Sabathia said: “I’m tired, mentally. One more year will be enough.”
Sabathia, who is a strong option to start a possible Game 4 of the ALDS against the Red Sox if the Yankees get by the A’s, went 9-7 with a 3.65 ERA in 29 starts this season. Only Luis Severino made more starts (32) for the Yankees this year than Sabathia, who made $10 million this season.
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