It’s been a few years with MLB’s new schedule, but it still feels weird for June to be around, and only now the Yankees and Red Sox are meeting up for the first time in 2025. Boston invested to compete for this division, but they come to the Bronx trying to tread water more than anything else, four games under .500 and in fourth place in the AL East.

Boston’s top acquisitions in the offseason (Garret Crochett and the currently injured Alex Bregman) have done their part and then some, and Boston’s Pythagorean win-loss record indicates they should have a better record. That being said, both the offense and pitching staff haven’t had the greatest depth, particularly given what this team aimed to compete for.

Meanwhile, the Yankees have been outstanding at home, winning two-thirds of their 30 games at Yankee Stadium, and look to carry that on. Something to monitor for New York is how Devin Williams handles being back in the closer role after Luke Weaver hit the IL this week. Williams got the save in his only opportunity against the Guardians, helping the Yankees take two of three from Cleveland, but it was a grind as he gave up a run in the process.

Friday: Will Warren vs. Walker Buehler (7:05 p.m. ET)

After a difficult outing against the Dodgers put a halt to Warren’s run of promising starts, the young right-hander looks to get back on track with a difficult task. Even if this Red Sox lineup isn’t as dangerous without the presence of Alex Bregman, currently on the IL, Rafael Devers and company can present plenty of challenges.

Interestingly enough, despite having a significant sample in the big leagues, Warren has yet to face the Yankees’ biggest rivals. On the other hand, while Walker Buehler hasn’t faced the Yankees wearing a Red Sox uniform, his experience in the Bronx is notable and not easy to forget. The former Dodger fired five shutout innings at Yankee Stadium in the Game 3 win and then returned to the mound two days later to nail down LA’s World Series win over New York. (At least Alex Verdugo is no longer around to flail.)

Much like Warren though, Buehler is also coming off a forgettable performance. The right-hander allowed five runs on 10 hits as the Braves shut out the Red Sox 5-0 in Atlanta. He’s been rather middling in 2025 with a 4.44 ERA and 4.72 FIP in nine starts, though both marks are still better than his ‘24 regular season results.

Saturday: Garrett Crochet vs. Ryan Yarbrough (7:35 p.m. ET)

Perhaps only Max Fried rivals the impact of Garrett Crochet as a pitching acquisition in the American League. The Red Sox have built quite the track record of acquiring ace southpaws from the rebuilding White Sox. The only starter in the American League with more strikeouts than Tarik Skubal, Crochet is being leaned on pretty heavily, already more than halfway through his innings total of last year, leading the AL with 82 innings.

It’s a little cruel for Ryan Yarbrough to have to go up against Crochet right after outdueling Yoshinobu Yamamoto at Dodger Stadium. At the same time, if he did that facing a tougher offense, his confidence must be through the roof with the Yanks hosting the Red Sox.

Known as an innings-eater capable of filling a backend starter role or pitching in long relief, Yarbrough’s line in 2025 has been phenomenal, with a sub-1.00 WHIP and basically a strikeout per inning in 41.1 frames. He excelled on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball the last time out; now he’ll try to do the same for Fox on their Saturday night feature.

Sunday: Carlos Rodón vs. Hunter Dobbins (7:10 p.m. ET)

Speaking of southpaws having outstanding seasons, while Rodón hasn’t quite been Crochet-level dominant, the former first-round pick is having by far his best season since signing that lucrative long-term contract with the Yankees.

Rodón missed last weekend’s series against the Dodgers, but he still gets a crack at a nationally televised game this time around, right in the middle of a hot stretch. Rodón has allowed just two runs in four outings, all four of them Yankee wins. To get a sense of how much the left-hander has improved, in just 13 starts, he has twice as much bWAR (2.5) as he did in his previous two seasons as a Yankee, also leading the AL in wins with eight.

An eighth-round pick in 2021, Dobbins never really featured in the list of top prospects for the Red Sox, but the righty slowly worked his way through the Sox farm system until he got the call early this season. Possessing a five-pitch mix, Dobbins doesn’t strike out a lot of batters, but with a pretty good walk rate, he has been reasonably successful in the bigs (102 ERA+ in 44.1 IP).