About the Postseason: Into the Fray

About the Postseason: Into the Fray

By Tim Kabel

September 30, 2025

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On Sunday, the Yankees wrapped up the season in a first-place tie in the American League East with the Toronto Blue Jays. Both teams won 94 games. Because the Yankees lost the season series to the Blue Jays, the Blue Jays won the division. That means tonight the Yankees will open a best of three games series against the Boston Red Sox. All the games will be played at Yankee Stadium. 

The Yankees started the season 35-20 through May 30th and then slumped badly during the annual Boone-Swoon, going 25-34. They finished the season with a 34-14 stretch and won their last eight games. I read a lot of articles over the past few days stating that the Yankees could have won the division outright if they had just won one of those games that they blew in an abysmal fashion or if they had played just one game better during June and July. It's tempting to go down that road, but there is no point to it. The Yankees did what they had to do. They are in the playoffs. The fact that they beat up on teams with losing records at the end of the season is irrelevant. The Yankees didn't handpick their schedule. They won the games that they had to win, and they are in the playoffs. That's all that matters at this point. If you don't believe me, ask Juan Soto.

Yes, it would have been more desirable to win the division. That is not necessarily because the Yankees would have had a bye. It is because the division series is a five-game series as opposed to the Wild Card series which is just three games. Actually, it is the best of three games. This series will move very quickly regardless of who wins. It will seem as if one of the teams is warming up for batting practice on Tuesday night and then preparing to go home for the winter on Thursday. It will be a very exciting round.

I am not going to make a prediction for the Wild Card series. I do know that the Red Sox have always played the Yankees very tough, and they won the 2025 season series nine games to four. However, this is the postseason. It is a clean slate. There are certain things that I do know about this series:

·       The Yankees cannot afford any sloppy play. They cannot slip into a game in which they allow the Red Sox to have extra outs in an inning. They need to play crisp, clean defense.

·       The Yankees cannot lapse into base running blunders. They were prone to that this season although lately, there were fewer of them. This also falls into the category of crisp, clean baseball.

·        The bullpen must be a strength. Lately, it has been but prior to that, it was a guessing game as to how they would perform.

·       Aaron Boone must not commit any “Aaron Boone-Type” mistakes. In other words, there can't be a situation like last year when he brought Nestor Cortes into the first game of the World Series in relief and watched him implode. He needs to make solid in-game decisions. Boone seems to be prone to trying to prove that he is “a managerial genius” in big games. This series would fall into the category of big games. Boone sometimes tries to be extra cute and creative in playoff games such as when he brought Deivi Garcia in to start a game against the Rays simply so he could flip him and bring in JA Happ. I don't know if Aaron Boone is capable of not committing some type of sabotage. Honestly, I don't think he is, but we can hope.

There are certain questions to which we do not have the answers. As I'm writing this, we don't know the composition of the roster for the Wild Card series. It would seem that Cam Schlittler would be the starter in game three but that has not been officially announced. Will Jazz Chisholm, Jr. start against Garrett Crochet? I'm quite certain that Ryan McMahon will be on the bench. Will Amed Rosario be at third base or will it be Jose Caballero? If it is Rosario, will Caballero get the start over Volpe? Although Volpe was hitting better at the very end of the season, he did struggle mightily this year and did recently receive treatment for a torn labrum that he suffered in May (Yes, you read that correctly). Volpe also led the league in errors. Max Fried is a ground ball pitcher. Common sense would dictate that Caballero should get the nod over Volpe. I would be willing to bet that he won't. I think Boone will start Volpe every game in the Wild Card series. That could be something that Boone regrets later.

I think Devin Williams needs to be on a very short leash. He has pitched well lately but whenever there is pressure, he seems to crumble. When that happens, it happens quickly. So, if he does come into a tight game, the Yankees should have somebody up and ready in case he starts to get bombed. More often than not, Boone doesn't have someone ready to back Williams up and pretty soon he has given up three or more runs. That can't happen in a three-game series.

I think this has the potential to be an extremely exciting series. Hopefully, the Yankees will win. They do have home field advantage, which could be very important. I hope the Yankees win. I am not feeling overly confident because it is a three-game series. Let's just enjoy this series and hope the Yankees move on to play Toronto.