What to expect: Major League scout gives his thoughts on Yankees-Red Sox

NEW YORK — The Red Sox and Yankees are, of course, no strangers to one another.

Separated by 200 or so miles on the map but forever linked, they played 13 times this year and have staged some of the most memorable postseason series in baseball history.

Still, part of the appeal of the game is that you never know what can happen. That’s why we asked a veteran major league scout, who’s seen plenty of New York and Boston, to give us an inside look at the strengths and weaknesses of both teams and asked him for his expert take.

Here are his thoughts:

Platoon matchups: “I think the big thing for me matchup-wise, and it really comes down to some managerial decisions, is what Alex Cora and the staff does about facing two of the better lefties in the game (Max Fried and Carlos Rodon) in Games 1 and 2. What do they do with the lineup? Where do you go and what decisions do you make? Does Nate Eaton play? Does (Rob) Refsnyder play? Do they take (Wilyer) Abreu out? I think that’s one of the things that jumps out to me when I first looked at it. Those are going to be major decisions to make that ultimately can win or lose a series.

Tales of Yankee power: “In terms of the Yankees, their strength is their power. They can change the game with one swing, and I think that’s the scary part, especially in Yankee Stadium. Some games you can hit a pop-up and the ball goes out there.”

Bullpen contest favors New York: “They’ve had some struggles with some of the guys they brought over like (David) Bednar and (Devin) Williams. But Aaron Boone has to feel really confident giving the ball to their relievers in the seventh inning. They can go (Luke) Weaver, (Camilo) Doval, Williams and Bednar. He’s set up as well as anyone.

“I like the Red Sox at the back end with (Aroldis) Chapman and (Garrett) Whitlock. But Boone doesn’t need his starters to give him seven. They can get pulled after five and he’s got four guys lined up ready to go. To me, that’s one of their major strengths.”

Dugout edge?: “I do think Alex is really good at pressing certain buttons and I think he does a really nice job of feeling the temperature of the room. I’ve always felt he’s been better with the position players rather than the pitching part of it. But I think his options are a little more limited this year because you’re not sending David Hamilton or Nick Sogard into a big spot. You’re going to have to kind of rely on your guys.

“I personally think Romy Gonzalez is a huge key to this series for them. I think he’s going to have to play really well and swing the bat, especially with the lefties, and provide some righthanded production beyond (Alex) Bregman and (Trevor) Story.

“But yeah, if you’re asking me, ‘Who gets the check mark (between the managers)?’ I’d probably lean Cora over Boone.”

Sloppiness on both sides: “These are the kinds of things that are going to play huge, especially in Yankee Stadium because if you give extra outs, there’s enough power on both sides to change the entire series.

“One of the main things that jumps out to me is the Yankees are extremely reckless on the bases. Jazz Chisholm or Jose Caballero, one of those guys will get picked off or thrown out taking an extra base at one point in time. They’re so reckless on the bases. There’s a fine line between aggressive and reckless, and they’re reckless. The Yankees’ baserunning is poor. Ultimately, I think that bites them at some point.

“Now, I’d rather have poor baserunning than bad defense (the Red Sox led all teams in errors). And again, the ballpark is a factor — you’re a missed popup away from changing a game if you give extra outs."

The maturation of Garrett Crochet: “Earlier this season, he was a thrower. I’ve never seen a guy who wanted to strike a guy out on strike one so bad. He was hunting strikeouts. And then about midway through the season, you can see something click. He figured out he needed to pitch and get some soft contact early. I feel really confident with him matching up with Fried in Game 1. I think he’s got that no-nonsense aspect to him. I think he could really blossom on this stage. This guy is the epitome of what you would want in your No. 1 guy in a playoff series."

Bello a potential trouble spot: “He scares the hell out of me. Now, I give him credit because he really did a nice job in the second part of the year. But Bello in Yankee Stadium, playoffs, it could go off the rails. He’s pitched well against them, but I worry about the environment. I’d have a little concern because he’s been fragile in the past.”

Attacking the New York lineup: “The biggest thing is, you can get a strikeout on them. If they have the bases loaded, they’re not playing small ball. They’re not looking to go the other way and score a run. They’re looking to do damage and swing as hard as they possibly can on every swing they take. That screams to me, ‘You’ve got to stay in the at-bat.’ You can get the strikeout with them because they chase. All of them have the same type of approach. They are susceptible to the strikeout, so you can get out of jams with them if you can get them to chase. Strike one is so big because they expand the zone on strike two so much and you’ve got them in a pitcher’s count.”

Keys in Red Sox lineup: “I think when (Ceddanne) Rafaela is swinging the bat, they’re a different club. He’s a spark plug for this club and when he’s going well at the plate, they’re really hard to beat. And then what he provides defensively on top of it....

“I don’t think it has to be Duran, or has to be Abreu.

“I put Bregman in the Judge category — regardless of what’s gone on, I count on them. And I do think Story is a really important piece to this."

Facing Fried: “He’s such a heavy ground ball pitcher with his sinker and cutter, you’ve got to get the ball in the air. It’s not easy to do against him but if you can get the ball in the air, he puts pitches over the plate. They’re hittable. It’s one of those things where he’ll cut and sink and slide you to do death, but at the same time, he relies on the ground ball.

“There’s opportunities to make contact and he’s not a guy with a ton of chase, because he’s in the zone. He loves throwing that changeup on the outer half to righties. He pounds that changeup on the outer half.”

Shortstop shortcomings: “There’s a lack of confidence with (Anthony) Volpe. I personally told our guys, ‘Run out balls as hard as you can with him because he’s going to make a mistake at some point. A lot of it’s throwing. He looks rushed in everything he does. I don’t think they trust him. I wouldn’t be surprised if they started Caballero.”

Early does it: “Anytime you’re going on the road, if you can jump out early, I think it could be huge. You’ve got to somehow get those monsters in New York under control. That’s one thing I worry about with Bello more than anything; if the Yankees put up a four-spot in the first, they’re ruthless. They just keep pounding you."

Depending on non-stars: “As much as you want to rely on your stars in these situations, your complementary guys have to show up. They have to. And if they don’t, you can forget about winning, regardless of what your stars do. There’s a reason why guys like David Freese and David Eckstein are famous for postseason baseball. That’s why Romy Gonzalez and Nate Eaton and (Masataka) Yoshida, those guys have to swing the bat.”

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