Lindor is currently feeling the same kind of chill with the Mets in the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers. On the other side of the MLB, the Guardians face the Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

It’s unclear if they’ll feel the strain of the October cold or if they’ll develop a high fever that will send them to the emergency room.

They lost Games 1 and 2 at Yankee Stadium and looked overwhelmed. Their elite defenders made mistakes. Lefty Joey Cantillo and catcher Bo Naylor combined for a record four wild pitches, resulting in three runs. Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees’ big hitters, combined to hit three home runs. Cleveland counterparts José Ramírez and Josh Naylor hit one.

Rookie shortstop and No. 9 hitter Brayan Rocchio added a homer for Cleveland in a 5-2 loss in Game 1. In Game 2, however, the Gold Glove finalist dropped a towering pop fly by Judge, who scored a run in the first inning. inning of a 6-3 victory in New York.

The Guardians are exactly what a team shouldn’t be at this time of season: unpredictable.

The hectic nature of the postseason, where one or two games can end or extend a team’s season, has increased that unpredictability. Add to that the ultra-aggressive post-season management style of Guardians manager Stephen Vogt and the tension rises with every pitch.

On Tuesday evening, Cleveland ace Tanner Bibee was removed after 1 1/3 inning with the Yankees leading 3-0. Bibee was not happy about it, but Vogt did not want the match to escape him. It did anyway.

In the fifth inning, he used pinch-hitter David Fry for struggling catcher Bo Naylor with the bases loaded and one out against Gerrit Cole because he felt it was the best chance to turn the game back in Cleveland’s favor. Fry fouled out on the first pitch and the offensively challenged Austin Hedges had to catch the rest of the night.

In Cleveland’s seven postseason games this year, Vogt has used just three starting pitchers: Bibee, Matthew Boyd and Alex Cobb. None of them have thrown more than 4 2/3 innings in a start.

Boyd will make his third postseason start in Game 3 on Thursday at 5:08 p.m., but Cobb is out for the postseason with a lower back strain. Vogt has not named a starter for Game 4 on Friday, but it could be Bibee, who threw just 39 pitches in Game 2 on Tuesday.

That’s the luxury/curse of having a strong bullpen, but even that has limits. Rookie Cade Smith pitched in six of the seven postseason games. Smith and Tim Herrin pitched in all five games in the Guardians’ victory over the Tigers in the AL Division Series.

Vogt’s style has produced mixed results.

In Game 3 of the ALDS against Detroit, he chased a 2-0 deficit by pinch-hitting for Will Brennan in the second and Kyle Manzardo in the third inning. These moves did not work as Detroit won 3-0, leaving the Guardians on the brink of elimination.

In Game 4 of the ALDS, Vogt stuck with his pinch-hitters with the score tied 2-2 after five innings. Fry delivered a pinch-hit two-run homer in the seventh, and squeezed in a run on a bunt in his next at-bat for a 5-4 win to avoid elimination.

“This is who we are,” Vogt said.

And this is what the Guardians cannot avoid.

• They must win at least two of the next three games at home to force the best-of-seven series back to New York for Game 6 on Monday and Game 7 (if necessary) on Tuesday.
• If they don’t, they’ll watch the Yankees capture the pennant at Progressive Field.
• If the Guards want to advance to the World Series for the first time since 2016, they must win four of the next five games against the Yankees in the best-of-seven series. The Yankees are 6-2 against the Guards this year: 2-0 in the ALCS and 4-2 in the regular season.

On Wednesday, the Guardians held an optional practice. They did it in the cold and under an October sky that looked like someone had hit a bat against his ribcage.

One training in the highest class looks the same as all the others. It could be in Goodyear, Arizona, in February, or Progressive Field in October.

But you have to wonder how many young Guardians have left this season before heading home for the winter.

– This post has been edited to clarify that ALCS Game 3 is Thursday.