Kiley McDaniel calls Corbin Burnes the best pitcher in a hypothetical Yankees-Orioles series

On Tuesday afternoon, ESPN published a full-length predictions piece covering all of this year's potential playoff matchups. They had 27 experts on the panel and went through each series, eventually winding up with the Phillies winning the World Series over the Yankees (incredibly boring).

However, one piece of note was that analyst Kiley McDaniel wrote a blurb about a potential Orioles-Yankees ALDS in which he tabbed O's ace Corbin Burnes as the best pitcher in such a hypothetical series.

If we're going by how these guys are pitching in the moment, McDaniel is probably right. Burnes was absolutely dominant in September, allowing just 5 runs in 30 innings pitched to lower his season ERA to a spiffy 2.92.

While Burnes' 3.55 FIP suggests he outpitched his metrics this year, he's still an elite arm and the Orioles wouldn't be where they are right now without him.

Orioles ace Corbin Burnes likely the best pitcher in a potential O's - Yankees ALDS

Maybe the more interesting conversation is who the Yankees would take right now. Gerrit Cole seems the obvious answer but he's far from the best version of himself. Having salvaged half a season when many thought he was going to need Tommy John surgery is nothing short of lucky but he hasn't been the Cole the Yankees were hoping for in his return.

The veteran has pitched to a 3.41 ERA in 91 innings this year while posting his lowest strikeout rate since he left Pittsburgh back in 2017. It's just the third time in the last 7 years that Cole has posted an ERA above 3.00 and while Cole will likely be tabbed to start game one of the ALDS, rookie Luis Gil has about as good as Cole has this year.

In fact, Gil will likely be the primary challenger going up against Orioles' outfielder Colton Cowser in the AL Rookie of the Year race, with the only other real candidate being Yankees' catcher Austin Wells.

After the Orioles' loss to the Royals on Tuesday afternoon, it's unclear whether we'll get the opportunity to see Baltimore take on the Yankees in the next round. The O's offense collapsed on them, failing to get any runs on the board against Royals' ace Cole Ragans and their bullpen.

Regardless of how good Burnes might be, or how well he pitched on Tuesday, the Birds won't get anywhere if the offense can't pull it together. Baltimore scored 786 runs in the regular season, good for second best in the AL and fourth best league wide. They'll need to regain some of that lost Orioles magic if they want to avoid a crushing loss to KC tomorrow.