The New York Yankees are hosting the Boston Red Sox in a best-of-three Wild Card Series starting Tuesday night. It will be the first time since 2021 that the two teams will face each other in October and the sixth time in the rivalry’s storied history.
Aaron Judge, Max Fried, Giancarlo Stanton, and other key Yankees will have to step up if they want to defeat a Boston unit that took the season series 9-4.
“They got the better of us this year,” manager Aaron Boone told the New York Post. “We won the last series. It’s always a battle. It’s coming down to three games between the two of us. Hopefully, we can back up our last series with another series win against them.”
Anything can happen in the Postseason. It would not be shocking to see the Yankees’ bats scuffle against Red Sox southpaw Garrett Crochet in the opening game, and it is also fully possible that Judge will finally enjoy an October breakout as the set progresses.
Yankees will struggle against Red Sox starter Garrett Crochet in Game 1
New York did not fare well against Crochet this season. In his three starts against the Yankees, the lefty went 3-0, posted a 3.29 ERA, and struck out 39 batters across 27.1 innings. On the year, Crochet earned an 18-5 record and a sizzling 2.95 ERA over a career-high 205.1 innings. According to Baseball Savant, he ranks in the 99th percentile in Pitching Run Value.
“He can run it up to 100 miles an hour, work all of his pitches in the zone when he needs to. He’s a tough matchup,” Judge said. “It’s probably why he’s, if not one of the best, the best pitcher in the game right now and probably on his way to a Cy Young. It’s impressive what he’s done so far this year. Looking forward to facing him.”
The Yankees’ path to a win in Game 1 would likely involve either capitalizing on one or two mistakes from Crochet or working his pitch count to a point that would require Red Sox manager Alex Cora to turn to his bullpen earlier than he would prefer.
Even these best-case scenarios would only be possible if Max Fried and New York’s bullpen can limit Boston’s offensive attack. Such an outcome is certainly possible given Fried earned a 1.96 ERA in three starts against the Red Sox this season.
Aaron Judge will have a breakout series
Fans and pundits have been waiting for Judge to experience an elite October run, and he might be ready to finally make his presence felt during the tournament.
Judge hit six home runs but posted just an .833 OPS over his final 15 games of the regular season. However, the two-time MVP has had another historically great season, leading the major leagues in all three slash stats of batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging, and has also seemed more comfortable with the pressure that accompanies a serious Postseason run.
“I want that burden because if I can take the weight off of other guys in this room so they go out there and produce and kind of fly under the radar and just do their job, then we have a better overall team,” Judge told The Athletic.
Jude holds a .205 career Postseason batting average and notably struggled during last year’s World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Judge hit .222, mashed only one home run, and made a regrettable defensive gaffe in Game 5 in the middle of a big Dodgers rally.
Experience could allow Judge to enter the Wild Card series with a more defined understanding of what October success entails. His past failures may afford him the resiliency and grit to approach the playoffs with a different mindset. Judge has said that these experiences aided the team as a whole during the regular season, and they could have helped mold a championship mentality as Game 1 looms.
“It helped us out throughout the season,” Judge told NJ.com. “We went through a tough stretch, and we had to answer questions about how we’re going to recover from every tough loss. It’s like, tough loss? We’re going to bounce back and just win the next game. All that does is give you a little bit more armor, toughen up your skin a little bit to go out there and keep competing.”
