Guardians Announce Starter for Game 1 of ALCS vs. Yankees

The Guardians announced their Game 1 starter for Monday's first AL Championship Series game against the hated New York Yankees, revealing that Alex Cobb will take the mound.

In his first season with Cleveland, Cobb appeared in only three games due to injury but has a long history of successful outings. He'll face Carlos Rodon, hoping to help his team gain an edge over one of the most expensive teams in MLB history.

After taking down a division rival in the Tigers in the AL Division Series, the Guardians are just four wins away from making their first World Series appearance since 1995.

Guardians Reveal Game 1 ALCS Starter vs. Yankees

In Cobb's three starts in the regular season, he finished with a 2-1 record and 2.76 ERA. He threw three innings against the Tigers, giving up three hits and two runs in a 3-0 loss.

It's admittedly a bold choice for manager Stephen Vogt to go with Cobb, but it likely indicates that the Guardians intend to lean heavily on their bullpen. Cobb threw 151.1 innings last year with the Giants, notching a 3.37 ERA with superb underlying metrics.

Cleveland's relievers are the strength of this team, so fans should expect to see Cobb for only a few innings. Rodon was knocked out after only 3.2 innings in his lone postseason start in a loss to the Royals, surrendering seven hits and four earned runs despite striking out seven batters.

Cobb is known as a ground-ball pitcher who avoids hard contact and lets his defense clean things up. The Yankees have a ferocious lineup, so he'll likely try to keep the ball in the infield to avoid a possible home run with Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton waiting for him.

Entering the series, Cleveland has +136 moneyline odds for Game 1 and +172 odds for the series at FanDuel Sportsbook, meaning a $10 wager on Game 1 would profit $13.60 if the Guardians win and a series bet would profit $17.20 on the same bet.

More Cleveland Guardians News:

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.