1. The Yankees beat up a hungover and depleted Rays team (they sat four regulars) 9-2 on Wednesday, a day after the Rays clinched the AL East title at Yankee Stadium. No performance should be taken seriously from the game as both teams treated it like spring training.
2. That means don’t read into Gerrit Cole’s start (5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K) as he’s always better when there’s no pressure and the games don’t matter. Just look at his 2023 Cy Young season. It’s the one season the Yankees missed the playoffs during his tenure with them, and considering they were essentially eliminated at the All-Star break, he pitched more than two months of meaningless games to eventually win the award. Carlos Rodon (who is more deserving of a postseason start than Cole) faced the actual Rays — the version of the team still trying to win the division — on Tuesday and he pitched eight scoreless, three-hit innings without allowing a walk. Rodon saw the lineup the Rays will use in the postseason. Cole saw a lineup they will use in February and March.
3. It also means don’t read into the 2-for-4, five-RBI night from Ryan McMahon that included a grand slam. McMahon’s grand slam came against Mason Englert, who was called up from Triple-A to eat innings for a team locked into the AL’s No. 1 seed. McMahon hit his first home run since August 3 and his second since July 11 off a Triple-A pitcher because McMahon is a Triple-A player. Englert allowed 10 baserunners, eight earned runs and four home runs in 3 2/3 innings. I don’t think the Yankees are foolish enough to buy into some kind of McMahon resurgence over these last few exhibition-like games, but then again, there’s nothing the Yankees like more than playing an undeserving veteran they owe money to.
4. In the first of five exhibition games to finish the season, the Yankees didn’t really try anything new out. The only glaring change to the lineup was George Lombard Jr. batting second (he homered for the third time in six games) with Cody Bellinger getting the night off. Move Jose Caballero around. Give Anthony Volpe a start at third base. Do things that could give you flexibility next week. With the weather forecast looking bleak for the weekend series against the Orioles, there’s a good chance two of the games don’t get played since the Orioles’ elimination number is down to 1 and the Yankees can’t move in the standings. The Yankees may not have as many games remaining as they think to try out different defensive alignments.
5. The postseason is five days away and the Yankees’ roster has so many question marks. As of now, the only two sure things are Bellinger in left field and Lombard Jr. at shortstop. Every other position is an unknown. It got a lot more complicated on Wednesday when it was announced that Giancarlo Stanton was hitting, a day after he was shown running. Trent Grisham is also hitting. Jazz Chisholm just returned. And then there’s the bizarre situation with Aaron Judge where he says he “intends” to play and Aaron Boone says he isn’t playing. No one outside of the Yankees knows the degree of calf strain he has since all we have been told is that it’s “moderate.”
6. Is Austin Wells starting no matter what hand the pitcher throws with? Who plays first base: Luis Garcia or Paul Goldschmidt? Does Ben Rice play first if either Judge or Stanton comes back to DH? Is Chisholm definitely the second baseman or does he get benched like he did last postseason against a lefty? Does Volpe start at second against lefties? Is it going to be McMahon at third or Caballero or Amed Rosario or Volpe (who has been taking grounders at third and could play there in the remaining four games)? Is Spencer Jones undoubtedly the starting center fielder? What if Grisham is ready? Could Caballero start in center like he did this past week? Who’s in right field if Judge remains out and isn’t a defensive option? It’s preposterous that it’s Thursday and the Yankees will play the Red Sox on Tuesday and seven of nine lineup spots aren’t set, but that’s where we’re at.
7. It also seems like Cole is going to get the ball for Game 1. The problem with that is Cole is currently the Yankees’ No. 4 starter (and possibly No. 5 based on Will Warren’s recent run). If Cole had a different name, he wouldn’t be one of three Wild Card Series starters. The only time Cole has pitched like an ace for the Yankees in the postseason has been with no fans in the stands or against AL Central teams. The many variations of Red Sox rosters since 2020 have owned him. He has been getting lit up with home runs and gave up another on Wednesday to Cedric Mullins(!).
8. Cam Schlittler has owned the Red Sox in a way that no other Yankee has ever owned them. Really in a way that no other pitcher in history has. His numbers against them seem fake. At the moment, he’s the best starting pitcher in the American League, and at worst, the second-best starting pitcher in the world. How does he not get the ball against the team he owns to set the tone and potentially put the Yankees up 1-0 immediately in a best-of-3 series?
9. I understand that by pitching Schlittler in Game 2, he will have the opportunity to send the Yankees to the ALDS or to save their season, but it’s not like there’s an equal or close-to-equal option to start in his place in Game 1. Starting him in Game 2 is overthinking it and leaving Boone and the Yankees open for quite possibly the biggest real-time second-guess of the Boone era, which seems impossible given how many instances of poor decisions Boone has had in seven prior postseasons. If Cole starts Game 1 and the Yankees are in a hole before they even come to bat against Payton Tolle, it will be ugly.
10. Thursday will be Schlittler’s final start of the regular season. So either he will start Game 1 on normal rest or Game 2 with an extra day of rest. (Because the Yankees like to give their starting pitchers extra rest before the postseason, all signs point to him starting Game 2.) He already has the Cy Young Award in his pocket, so Thursday is about getting work in and staying healthy. Schlittler has thrown at least 92 pitches in all but two starts since June 7, so if the Yankees pull him earlier than that, it may be a hint that they are going to use him in Game 1 on normal rest. If he throws his normal high-90s or 100-plus pitches, we’ll know he’s going in Game 2. As long as Schlittler gets through Thursday night healthy, nothing else related to the game matters.
Last modified: Sep 24, 2026
