Well, the odyssey of 161 games (thanks to the storm) is over, and in many ways, the New York Yankees are in the same position they were this time a year ago. They won 90+ games for the third straight year, finished second in the AL East after giving away the division to an unlikely winner, and are headed into a Wild Card series matchup with the rival Red Sox. Perhaps the only real difference from last year to this year is that they have far more question marks on the injury front as they go into the playoffs, with key players status unclear…even if the team has seemingyl “confirmed” their place on the roster.

I’ve said it a few times now, but 2026 has maybe been the most interesting to follow and document since I started The Broadway Breakdown. The year started with immense promise and heavy expectations in the aftermath of last year’s disappointment, and I was leading my own charge on that saying this team SHOULD compete for it all this year. In typical fashion since Aaron Boone took over, they raced out to a great start, hit a wall in the middle of the year, and closed strong running through the tape. Yes, there were injuries, but the usual frustrations we’ve dealt with as fans were there once again. Sloppy defense, bad base running, mental lapses and above all, agonizing extra losses were the norm for most of the campaign. Cleaning up just some of that would have been enough to win the division…but now I sound like a broken record.

Having said all that, and with the caveat that I am not his biggest fan, I think 2026 is Aaron Boone’s best work as the manager of the Yankees. Sure, there were years where his team won more games and put up better numbers, but he kept this group going in the right direction in the face of extreme adversity. If you don’t agree with that sentiment, allow me to harken back to 2023, a season where like 2026, Aaron Judge went down with an injury that cost him a significant amount of time and basically derailed the entire campaign. They managed to avoid that this time around, with Giancarlo Stanton, Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, and Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm, and Trent Grisham all miss significant time.

The tough hand this team was dealt on the injury front was compounded by what I would say is one of Brian Cashman’s worst years from a roster management standpoint. Of course, I was glad he retained Cody Bellinger and acquired Luis Garcia, Jr. at the deadline. And I will readily admit that the positive play from Spencer Jones, Paul Blackburn, Brent Hedrick, and George Lombard Jr. say a lot of good things about the organization from top to bottom. But Cashman has gotten plenty wrong this year, ranging from giving Trent Grisham a qualifying offer he hoped he wouldn’t sign (he did) to not improving the pitching and catching depth at the trade deadline. Adding more to this team or spending money more wisely perhaps would have been enough to win the division and be in a better place going into the playoffs.

While plenty of guys performed well in 2026, no one outshined two players in particular as Cam Schlittler and Ben Rice were this season’s MVP’s. Schlitter’s put up a 14-6 record, mostly because his offense let him down, as he pitched to a 1.95 ERA with 239 strikeouts in 193 and tow thirds innings pitching. It’s a season on par with Ron Guidry in 78′, Whitey Ford in 61′ and Andy Pettitte in 96′, one I am very happy to have witnessed both on tv and in person when I went to the Stadium in August. The same goes for Rice, who has continued to blossom in this uniform, putting up 41 homers and 97 RBI’s without a ton of help in the lineup while Judge, Stanton and Bellinger were all out. He’s been compared to Kyle Schwarber by members of the media and a year like this makes so much easier to see why, given his propensity for hard contact and high exit velocity in almost any setting. Long may it continue for both of these home-grown talents.

Like I said, more players than just those two came through for the Yankees this season. They wouldn’t be where they are without David Bednar, Brent Hedrick, Paul Blackburn, Luis Garcia Jr., Spencer Jones, Cody Bellinger, Carlos Rodon and more. The contributions of those guys going to waste as this team didn’t win the AL East yet again was hard to swallow as the Yankees once again saw a team celebrate on their field, something that is getting very old. Their rivals took some shots at them, and frankly the only way to stop that is to step up and shut them up by beating them, which needs to start right here and right now against Boston on Tuesday night. With that being said, let’s preview the series.

The Preview

We’ve done enough recapping so let’s finally preview this series. We’ve learned more in the last few days in the run up to this series starting and it’s at least illuminated some of the gameplan for the Yankees in this matchup. Up until Sunday morning it was an open-ended question about who would start these three games and in what order would they do it. But we now know that the pitchers below will take the mound in this order starting Tuesday.

• Game 1: Cam Schlittler
• Game 2: Max Fried
• Game 3: Gerrit Cole

While I could make a strong argument for Rodon getting one of these games over Cole or Fried (Cole in particular), I’m not surprised they went this route. These are good problems to have when you are spoiled for choices in the pitching department and I am sure if need be Rodon can and will feature out of the bullpen. The bigger question marks that are still ongoing is what happens with the lineup, an answer we won’t quite get until the playoff roster is finalized. What’s up for debate you ask…just a hell of a lot of drama revolving around two of the biggest names on the roster.

By now you have no doubt heard of the Aaron Judge saga playing out here to finish the season as the slugger came back, then re-injured himself after rushing back and the Yankees essentially confirmed he was done for the year…until Judge pushed back on that, and he has continued to for about a week, creating an unnecessary distraction away from the field. Boone seems to have about had it with the back and forth and while I’m sure he would love to have Judge available, he’s being made to look like an idiot by a player who is clearly hurt and has been handling his injuries poorly for a while now.

Surprisingly joining him in the return conversation is Giancarlo Stanton who seemingly is going to be back on the roster as a pinch-hitting option. Whether or not Judge and or Stanton force their way into the mix on this playoff roster, it’s hard to say how effective they will be given how little game action they have seen. While it’s a bit unclear exactly how this will shakeout, here’s my best stab at assembling a lineup based on the available players. I don’t have any desire to see them mix and match based on the handedness of the opposing pitcher, as I’d like to see them just play the best hitters, and more importantly best defensive alignment possible. One more caveat to add here, should Aaron Judge be on this roster, he’s got to be in the field. Yes, it’s helpful to have his bat but if he can only DH then he will cause another reliable bat to come out of the lineup. Long story short, I am leaving Judge and Stanton out and not doing a lot of mixing and matching for righty lefty. And yes, I know Ramos is not a good defender, but I don’t really see a way around them playing him.

Lineup vs Lefties	Lineup vs Righties
1. Ben Rice, DH	1. Ben Rice, DH
2. Cody Bellinger, LF	2. Cody Bellinger, LF
3. Heliot Ramos, RF	3. Luis Garcia Jr.
4. Luis Garcia Jr., 1B	4. Heliot Ramos, RF
5. George Lombard, SS	5. Spencer Jones, CF
6. Spencer Jones, CF	6. George Lombard
7. Anthony Volpe, 2B	7. Jazz Chisholm, 2B
8. Austin Wells, C	8. Austin Wells, C
9. Jose Caballero, 3B	9. Jose Caballero

The group above are the best setups I could configure given the guys that are out and likelihood that the Yankees will go lighter on pitching over these three games. I can’t overstate how critical it is that this team does not beat itself with defensive mishaps as we have seen them do in the past. The strength of this team, especially without Judge is their pitching and they cannot waste that strength by being shaky in the field or on the base paths, and as I said before, I can’t see a world where Ramos doesn’t play if Judge is compromised so we’ll have to hold our breath with him in right field. The bench I’ve assembled gives Boone some versatility as it allows him to pinch hit with Goldy, Stanton and Rosario should he want to, while also have the defense of Goldschmidt, Grisham and McMahon at his disposal.

This matchup will be all about playing a clean game and outpitching Boston’s best arms, both in the rotation and the pen. While the Yankees boast plenty of impressive arms, Boston will counter with guys who have had big years like Payton Tolle, Ranger Suarez (an under the radar playoff ace), and Sonny Gray along with a bullpen that can be overpowering, led by former Yankee Aroldis Chapman. Getting ahead of them will be critical as the back end of the Sox pen can shut the Yankees down, which also mean Hedrick, Blackburn, Bednar and probably Rodon and Warren must match them pitch for pitch. I expect this to be tight and hard fought, just like last season’s Wild Card series, so you may want to double down on your blood pressure meds folks.

I am going to pick the Yankees to win in three games, mostly because I am certainly not going to pick against them. I am not sure I’ve ever felt like there is a wider array of outcomes for a Yankee team in the past. I could see them winning this series and then overpowering Tampa with their arms before going on to face a weaker opponent in the ALCS and advancing to another World Series. I could just as easily see another spectacular crash out at the hands of Boston or Tampa Bay thanks to some sloppy play and further injuries.

While I do think they have enough firepower to win this series no matter who is on the roster, I can’t really stomach the thought of them losing the Boston. This series will start tonight, and each game will be at 8 PM on NBC, though hopefully we don’t need a game three. So, let’s lock in, if you’re going be loud and make it difficult for the Red Sox to handle the environment and let’s plan on a date with Tampa. After all, we owe them a couple games following all the losing to them and the trash talk. Let’s go Yankees!

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