The Boston Red Sox will face off against the New York Yankees behind Max Fried on September 30 to open the best of three Wild Card round. Boston's series-opening starting lineup features some glaring omissions and interesting starters.
Alex Cora has loaded the lineup with righty hitters to face lefty Fried, who's posted a 1.55 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP in his last seven starts. Rob Refsnyder will lead off and Romy Gonzalez will bat fourth — both are lefty killers. Refsnyder is slashing .302/.399/.560 against southpaws this season, and Gonzalez is batting .331/.378/.600 against them. Gonzalez has also been one of the hottest hitters in the Sox's lineup in the last month.
Nate Eaton and Nick Sogard have made the cut for the first game, batting sixth and ninth, respectively. Eaton is right handed and Sogard is a switch hitter, so they both contribute to the stash of righties against Fried. Neither player has spent much time in the big leagues this year, but both have performed well offensively — Eaton is slashing .296/.348/.383 over 41 game and Sogard is batting .260/.317/.344 in 30 appearances. The two have even combined for a walk off this season.
Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida have been omitted from the starting lineup, which is a curious choice by Cora. Abreu has posted 22 homers this season, the second-most on the Red Sox, and they should be trying as hard as they can to match up with the Yankees' league-leading .455 team slugging percentage.
Red Sox omit hot hitters, playoff veteran from Wild Card Game 1 lineup against Yankees
Our guys for Game 1. pic.twitter.com/r2YLq1D0J9
— Red Sox (@RedSox) September 30, 2025
Yoshida's September has rivaled Gonzalez's hot streak. He's batting .327/.350/.491 with two homers in his last 15 games. He's only slashed .230/.299/.377 against lefties, however.
Nathaniel Lowe, a 2023 World Series champion, has also been omitted from the starting lineup, as he's only batting .168/.240/.265 against left handers this year. He does have home run power, though, and Cora could use him, Abreu or Yoshida as a pinch-hitter which will likely occur when the Yankees go to their bullpen. New York only has one lefty reliever in Tim Hill, so Boston's lefty bats will get plenty of opportunities in the late innings over the next two days.
The Red Sox's Tuesday starting lineup is far from their best one, which is a questionable choice since Garrett Crochet needs run support to win his fifth start against the Yankees this year. Cora will make use of pinch-hitters throughout the series, but hopefully Crochet and the red-hot Gonzalez and Ceddanne Rafaela will be able to work them out to an early lead.