The Yankees are huge underdogs. Yes, you read me right, there’s absolutely no objective way you can pick the Yankees to win this series. The Yankees dominated baseball for four months, but unless you went into a coma at the trade deadline, you can’t seriously pick them. They won less games and don’t have home field advantage. They lost the season series. They’ve lost not one, but two head-to-head ALCS during the Astros six straight appearances. They just played a full five game game divisional series. The Astros have their pitching lined up and the Yankees don’t. This seems super easy, right?

You know it won’t be easy though, right? Aaron Judge is heating up. Giancarlo Stanton is healthy and hit a game five homer in the ALDS. The Yankees feel good after coming back from the brink. Justin Verlander looked terrible in his first postseason start. If they just get a split in Houston, they can come home with Cole and Cortes.

Still, every quantifiable measure supports Houston, and how do you pick against them? Outside of a gut feeling it might be closer, what do I have? Nothing. In the AL so far, I’m 3-1 (dammit, Toronto). Hard to start being crazy now. I have to go Houston in six, even if I don’t like it. I’d really like to run back 2009, if I’m being biased.