With the confirmation that the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees will be seeing each other in the Wild Card round, the Red Sox set up their rotation for the right pitchers to see the mound in the best-of-three series, but the Yankees seemingly weren't.
Recent comments by Yankees manager Aaron Boone suggest he already has his sights on the divisional round. When asked whether potential Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler will be pitching Game 1 of the Wild Card round, he started talking about how, when a pitcher sees the mound in the Wild Card, it affects which games they pitch in the Divisional round.
How the Yankees are already looking past the Red Sox to deeper in the playoffs is a question all of Red Sox Nation is asking. The Sox were 6-7 against the Yankees this season, with each team sweeping one series. Both teams are heading into the playoffs not at full strength, so Boone's focus on the ALDS is premature.
The Yankees finally came around on September 27 when they announced Schlittler as their Game 1 starter and Fried for Game 2. Any other plan would've been risky.
Aaron Boone should probably get his head out of the clouds before the Wild Card round
Is Cam Schlittler starting Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series? Aaron Boone: “We’ll see. Not necessarily.”
— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) September 23, 2026
Why not?
“Whoever goes 1 or 2 doesn't affect the next series. So whoever goes 1 or 2 can pitch 2 and 5 in the next series, for example. So we'll decide what kind of makes…
While Boone's comments indicated that their ace would definitely pitch in Game 1 or 2, it's hard to think of a reason why he wouldn't go in Game 1. Since the change in format to the Wild Card round in 2022, only once has the team that won Game 1 not won the series (it was the Red Sox last year). Even though that is a very small sample, that's what should be pinned to every manager's bulletin board.
The Red Sox have already made sure their pitchers were perfectly set up for the Wild Card round, but nothing beyond that. Manager Chad Tracy said in his post-game press conference after the doubleheader Friday that the hope is the Red Sox will get home playoff games, which would mean they beat the Yankees, but the key word is "hope." Tracy doesn't have his Red Sox team thinking about anything more than the problem directly in front of them. There is a difference between optimism and hubris, and it seems like Boone has more of the latter.
The rivalry may not be as heated as it was back in the early 2000s, but for Boone, who was a central player in the rivalry back then, to underestimate what can happen when these two meet in the regular season or playoffs should come as a shock to both fanbases. The best thing the Red Sox can do now is use this as motivation to beat Schlittler and the Yankees.
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