The Yankees and Rays are back in the postseason, and this time the setup looks a lot less surreal than their last October meeting. Their first playoff series came in San Diego with cardboard cutouts in the stands. This one starts Saturday at The Trop, which is somehow the first postseason game the Yankees have ever played there.
The schedule brings a strange twist right away. There’s an off day between Games 1 and 2 without any change in venue, a quirk that could let both clubs line up their Game 1 starters again on full rest for Game 4 if they want to go that route.
New York is going with Gerrit Cole in the opener.
That choice doesn’t exactly follow the numbers on paper. The Rays have handled right-handed pitching well this season, posting the fourth-best wRC+ and fifth-best OPS in baseball against righties.
Against lefties, though, they drop all the way to 26th and 25th in those same categories. Even so, the Yankees are clearly leaning into the simple version of the decision: Cole is their guy, and he gets the ball.
And it’s not hard to see why they’re comfortable with that call. Cole has the pedigree, and after two rough outings in San Diego and against the Mets, he finished the year strongly, including a solid start against the Rays at the Stadium. His regular-season ERA sits at 3.20, and his postseason ERA is 2.77.
That leaves the Yankees with another good problem: how to handle Carlos Rodón. The numbers suggested Rodón should have been the choice, and his recent track record would have supported that too.
But in a short series, the Yankees are trusting the arm they trust most. Rodón still figures to matter, whether that’s in Game 3 or Game 4 back in New York.
If Cole’s first start goes well, he could technically come back on regular rest and face Drew Rasmussen again in Game 4. That’s the kind of rotation flexibility the Yankees are working with here - not a scramble, but a luxury.
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Ben Rice Suddenly Carries A Yankees Problem He Still Hasn't Solved
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Rice, who has been an important part of the Yankees offense, could not find any traction against Rasmussen, finishing 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. For a lineup that already looked out of sync, his struggles underscored just how tough the matchup was, and how much pressure now sits on New Yorks bats to answer before this series gets any deeper. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Lineup Just Faced A Game 1 Problem That Changes Everything
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For the Yankees, the concern is less about one loss than the way the game was lost. Rasmussen controlled the lineup from start to finish, and the Rays paired that kind of pitching with just enough offense to put New York in chase mode right away. In a short series, a night like this can change the feel of everything, especially when the opponent has already shown it can win with one swing and a lockdown bullpen finish. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Have A Matt Blake Decision Fans Should Be Watching
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The bigger question is what comes after that, because the Yankees are reportedly looking to retain Blake beyond next season as well. With this years staff producing strong results and both the rotation and bullpen ranking among the best in the league, Blake has built the kind of track record that usually leads to a longer stay, even if the final call still has to get sorted out. [Read more 🡒]