{"id":344347,"date":"2025-09-27T02:16:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T02:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/344347\/"},"modified":"2025-09-27T02:16:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T02:16:19","slug":"projecting-the-yankees-potential-wild-card-roster-as-division-chase-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/344347\/","title":{"rendered":"Projecting the Yankees\u2019 potential Wild Card roster as division chase continues"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Yankees<\/a> still have a chance to win the American League East and earn a bye in the playoffs, but with the club preparing for the start of its final three-game series of the regular season on Friday, the playoff picture had them hosting a Wild Card Series against the Red Sox.<\/p>\n

The Yankees began the day with the same record as the Blue Jays atop the division, but Toronto holds the tiebreaker thanks to an 8-5 record in head-to-head-play. With the Bombers welcoming the Orioles to the Bronx and the Jays playing the Rays in Canada this weekend, divisional matchups will determine how the East shakes out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to try and win every game, and that\u2019s our focus,\u201d Aaron Boone said after the Yankees swept the White Sox on Thursday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If the Yankees win one more game than Toronto this weekend, they\u2019ll get some rest before the ALDS. But for now, here\u2019s what their potential 26-man Wild Card roster could look like.<\/p>\n

Starting Pitchers (3): Max Fried, Carlos Rod\u00f3n, Cam Schlittler<\/p>\n

With Max Fried and Carlos Rod\u00f3n set to start the Yankees\u2019 first two playoff games, the team is hoping that the left-handers continue to shine. The duo has been excellent this season in the wake of Gerrit Cole\u2019s spring training Tommy John surgery and a few other rotation injuries, combining for a 37-14 record and a 2.97 ERA over 65 starts and 390.2 innings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are big shoes to fill,\u201d Rod\u00f3n said of Cole on Thursday after wrapping up his third \u2014 and best \u2014 season as a Yankee.<\/p>\n

If Cole were available, Rod\u00f3n (18-9, 3.09 ERA) would probably be preparing for a potential do-or-die Game 3 start in the Wild Card Series. Instead, rookie right-hander Cam Schlittler would be scheduled to pitch on normal rest that day<\/a>, though the Yankees will want to see how he fares in his final regular season start this Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll see how the next couple days unfold. He\u2019s certainly in the mix for that,\u201d Boone said of Schlittler. \u201cBut again, we\u2019ll see how this 24, 48, 72 hours unfolds to determine that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other candidates for Game 3 include Friday night starter Will Warren and Sunday starter Luis Gil, though Schlittler appears to have the upper hand. Keep in mind that probable pitchers can change this weekend and that the ALDS schedule would require a four-man rotation.<\/p>\n

Relief Pitchers (9): David Bednar, Luke Weaver, Devin Williams, Fernando Cruz, Camilo Doval, Mark Leiter Jr., Will Warren Tim Hill, Ryan Yarbrough<\/p>\n

Pitching coach Matt Blake said that the Yankees could roster their entire rotation for the playoffs, but Gil won\u2019t be of much use in the Wild Card Series, which begins Tuesday, if he starts on Sunday. Gil has also been extremely erratic and missing strikeout stuff<\/a> since returning from a spring training lat injury; the Yankees may want to avoid him altogether this October if they can.<\/p>\n

However, Warren is part of the Wild Card pen in this projection. He could be especially useful against right-handed hitters, as they had a .651 OPS against him before his start on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to win,\u201d Warren, who has only made one big league relief appearance, said when asked about possibly working in relief. \u201cI\u2019m confident wherever I end up.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the Yankees\u2019 actual relievers, they\u2019ve been hard to trust this season. The group\u2019s 4.43 overall ERA ranks 23rd, and the number has inflated to 4.97 \u2013 26th in baseball \u2013 since a trade deadline makeover. Devin Williams \u2014 twice removed from the closer\u2019s role \u2014 Luke Weaver, Camilo Doval and Mark Leiter Jr. have all struggled over extended stretches this season.<\/p>\n

The good news is that David Bednar has brought sustained stability to the closer\u2019s role, while Williams (8 games) and Weaver (5 games) both took scoreless streaks into Friday\u2019s game. The trio combined for three blank frames on Thursday, leaving Boone confident in the backend of his bullpen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like a lot of those guys are in a really good place right now,\u201d the skipper said. \u201cWe feel capable that we can shut a game down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catchers (2): Ben Rice, Austin Wells<\/p>\n

The Yankees could carry a third catcher in J.C. Escarra, which is what they did earlier in the season when Ben Rice wasn\u2019t receiving regularly<\/a>. With Rice, who also plays first, and Austin Wells both expected to start when the Yankees face a right-handed pitcher this October, Escarra would provide flexibility should the opposition bring in a lefty reliever, thus prompting Boone to pinch-hit for Rice or, more likely, Wells, who both swing from the port side.<\/p>\n

However, the Yankees have been just fine with two catchers in recent months. And while Boone hasn\u2019t dismissed the possibility of adding a third catcher, he\u2019s said that he would \u201cfeel comfortable\u201d with two.<\/p>\n

If the Yankees were to roster Escarra, it would likely come at the expense of outfielder Austin Slater.<\/p>\n

Infielders (6): Paul Goldschmidt, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe, Ryan McMahon, Jos\u00e9 Caballero, Amed Rosario<\/p>\n

There\u2019s not much intrigue here, as Anthony Volpe has performed well and seems to have reclaimed the starting shortstop role from Jos\u00e9 Caballero since coming back from a cortisone shot for his partially torn labrum. While Volpe went 0-for-4 in Thursday\u2019s game, he entered Friday hitting .321 with a .795 OPS since his return to the starting lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, he\u2019s finding his rhythm,\u201d Boone said.<\/p>\n

The manager has also referred to Caballero as a \u201c10th man\u201d<\/a> whose speed and versatility offers strategic value off the bench, though that\u2019s not to say he won\u2019t get any starts this postseason.<\/p>\n

Also, don\u2019t be surprised if Amed Rosario starts at third base in Game 1 of the Wild Card series if the Yankees\u2019 face Boston\u2019s left-handed ace, Garrett Crochet. While Ryan McMahon is the superior defender at third, Rosario crushes left-handed pitching<\/a> and is 6-for-9 with a homer against Crochet in his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s turned into kind of a lefty killer,\u201d Boone said.<\/p>\n

Outfielders (6): Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham, Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton, Jasson Dom\u00ednguez, Austin Slater<\/p>\n

The biggest question here is if Slater makes the cut. Like Rosario, he was acquired before the trade deadline because he has a strong track record against left-handed pitchers. However, Slater hasn\u2019t performed well with the Yankees, going just 3-for-23 over his first 13 games while working around a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n

Giancarlo Stanton, meanwhile, is back to being a DH. He returned to the outfield after a right flexor strain initially limited Aaron Judge to DH duties, but the Yankees\u2019 captain has been throwing with more force lately after avoiding some throws and easing up on some others upon his return to the outfield.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gotta get back the accuracy a little bit, but that\u2019ll come,\u201d Judge said Wednesday after his hardest throw since his injury, an 85.8-mph toss, sailed high into second base. \u201cI don\u2019t like airmailing balls like that, but I feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dom\u00ednguez, meanwhile, has embraced a reserve role after entering the season as the Yankees\u2019 starting left fielder<\/a>. He and Caballero will give the team serious speed off the bench late in games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Yankees still have a chance to win the American League East and earn a bye in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2376],"tags":[5,4,1690,62,2548,2547,1830,7875,142],"class_list":{"0":"post-344347","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-yankees","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-yankees","12":"tag-newyork","13":"tag-newyorkyankees","14":"tag-roster","15":"tag-wild-card","16":"tag-yankees"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115273858207880275","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}