The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees have both clinched playoff berths and are expected to meet for a 2025 Wild Card rematch at Yankee Stadium. Boston previewed its likely Wild Card rotation during its series against the Cleveland Guardians — Payton Tolle, Sonny Gray, Ranger Suarez — though nothing is confirmed.
Starting Tolle, Gray and Suarez in the series before the regular season finale gives them plenty of time to rest before their playoff starts. The Yankees have adopted a different strategy that is a bit harder to decipher.
Until September 22, the Yankees were fighting a long shot battle to overtake the Tampa Bay Rays as the American League leaders to secure a first-round bye. But the Rays cliched at Yankee Stadium, so New York is stuck in the Wild Cards.
Carlos Rodón and Max Fried started the first two games of the four-game set with Tampa, then Gerrit Cole, then Cam Schlttler last. If the Yankees plan to start Schlittler in the first game of the Wild Card series against Boston, it's curious that they would set their rotation up in an order that gives him no extra rest.
Yankees may not use Cam Schlittler against Red Sox in Game 1 of Wild Card series
New York is still debating who to use in Game 1 of the series, which is largely considered the most important — the winner of Game 1 most often goes on to win the series (though that pattern didn't hold for Boston last year). Schlittler has performed well against the Red Sox in his young career (0.74 ERA, 0.986 WHIP over 24.1 innings), so one would think the Yankees would want to use him in Game 1.
Instead, they've seemingly set Cole up to start the opener. The veteran hasn't had his best season, but still a solid one, with a 3.61 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 131 strikeouts over 127 innings. The Red Sox would prefer Cole to start Game 1 because they already got to him for four runs on seven hits over 5.1 innings on June 27, during Boston's four-game sweep of New York that started their historic winning summer.
Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake also said they're considering using Fried in Game1, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. Fried would start on more rest than Schlittler would if the rookie were to start the opener, which is a main argument for pushing Schlittler back. Fried has posted a 2.80 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 104 strikeouts in 112.2 frames this season. Fried is an undesirable opening starter for Boston since he posted one great outing and another good, abbreviated one against the Sox this year, but they'll have to face him at some point.
The Red Sox and Yankees have two of the best rotations in the game. No matter the order, they'll give each other a hard time. But New York starting Cole in Game 1, the way the rotation is lined up, would be the best outcome for Boston.
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