Five games in five days is death to the bullpen. Do the Yankees have an October Surprise?

The weirdest part of this week's series against Tampa, by far, is that both teams will occupy Wall Street the same hotel. This is for safety? Who came up with this plan, Vince McMahon? These teams are one errant fastball away from the benches clearing, and they're going to share elevators? Cooperstown Cashman needs to sign a last-minute slugger. I suggest Ronda Rousey. 

The second weirdest part is the lack of an off-day. (Note: The teams play Monday night then late Tuesday afternoon.) No travel day and, in San Diego, no wash-outs. (It never rains in California, but girl, don't they warn ya, it pours, man, it pours...) Barring a super-spreader breakout - is Amy Conid Barrett coming to the games? -  the teams will play five games in five days - a Bataan death march for the bullpens. Some cocktail napkin implications:

1. One horrible, rotten start in Game One could kill a team. It's Cole v Snell: Both should go six or seven. From there, both managers will use their best bullpen arms - no middle-inning lug nuts. 

2. That puts the pivotal strain onto Game Two: Tanaka v Glasnow. If either goes out early, that team's bullpen will experience a tactical nuclear bomb. 

3. In the 7th-thru-9th, we have Mean Chad Green, Zack Britton and the Water Cannon. Of the three, Britton seems closest to peak fall foliage. (Aroldis will always terrify us; deal with it.) But getting to the 7th... come Ben Heller or High Water - that's a problem. 

4. The key Yankee could be Jordan Montgomery, fifth starter in a normal stretch. If one of our front four - (Dare we subject Deivi Garcia to the task? I guesso...) - gets bounced, Monty needs to give us four or five innings, to save the cavalry.  

5. At some point, Aaron Boone must use Adam Ottavino, the Gary Sanchez of pitchers. It's been a rotten year for Otto. Right now, the sight of him warming up is akin to a Red Flag alert in Sacramento. He didn't pitch against Cleveland. His regular season ERA was a tad below 6.00. On the depth chart, he's one notch above Eric Kratz. But he's savvied and smart, a Brooklyn guy. Barring a quick, three-game exit, Boone will likely try Ottavino - like that experimental drug they're giving Trump - and see what happens? If he's solid, Ottavino would be a huge addition. If he's bad, well, it's just one game.

6. Anybody out there wanna roll the dice on Miguel Yajure? If you check the stats, he's atop the Yankee list, just below Tommy Kahnle's momentary fling with 2020. Miguel is 22, a righty, and in three games this year, most recently against Miami, he's pitched 7 innings and given up only one run. Could he be our October Surprise? (One caveat: The Rays have seen him. On Aug. 31, he threw three scoreless innings against them.)

Of all the above options, I'm sure you'll agree: The best one is Ronda Rousey.