Yankees vs. Red Sox: Comparing AL East rivals position by position ahead of Wild Card Series matchup
Cody Bellinger or Jarren Duran? Garrett Crochet or Max Fried? Let's build a roster
By
Mike Axisa
•
8 min read
For the third time in the last eight years and the sixth time ever, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees will meet this postseason. The Yankees will host the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium for the best-of-three Wild Card Series beginning Tuesday. They finished second and third in the AL East, respectively, and the winner of this series will face the AL East champion Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS.
"It's New York against Boston," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Saturday. "It's gonna be big."
The Yankees beat the Red Sox in the 1999 ALCS and again in the 2003 ALCS thanks to Aaron Boone's Game 7 walk-off homer. The Red Sox exacted revenge with their 3-0 comeback in the 2004 ALCS. The Red Sox also beat the Yankees in the 2018 ALDS and the 2021 AL Wild Card Game. The all-time postseason series is tied 12-12, though Boston has won eight of their last nine head-to-head meetings in October.
"This team can beat you in a lot of different ways, and we're healthy,'' Boone, now New York's manager, said Sunday. "I feel good taking our shot with these guys.''
The Red Sox went 9-4 against the Yankees during the regular season, including 5-2 at Yankee Stadium. Here are the details for this week's Wild Card Series in the Bronx:
| Date | Start time | Starting pitchers | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
Tues., Sept. 30 | 6:08 p.m. ET | LHP Max Fried vs. LHP Garrett Crochet | ESPN |
Weds., Oct. 1 | 6:08 p.m. ET | LHP Carlos Rodón vs. RHP Brayan Bello | ESPN |
Thurs., Oct 2 (if nec.) | 6:08 p.m ET | RHP Cam Schlittler vs. TBA | ESPN |
RHP Lucas Giolito has an elbow issue and will not be on the Wild Card Series roster, Cora confirmed Monday. He likely would have started Game 3 otherwise. That start could now fall to rookie lefty Connelly Early, or perhaps the Red Sox will just bullpen game. Regardless, Game 3 will be a win-or-go-home game. It will be all hands on deck for both teams and whoever gets the start won't have an especially long leash. You can only give the starter so much time to work through things, you know?
The oddsmakers at FanDuel are favoring New York (-1.5) in Game 1 and in the series (-165) on the money line.
With the Wild Card Series set to begin Tuesday, let's compare these two historic rivals position-by-position. The Wild Card Series rosters won't be announced until midday Tuesday, so we have to make some educated guesses, plus the Red Sox make things difficult by being so platoon heavy (they'll see lefties in Games 1 and 2). We'll do the best we can. Come with me, won't you?
Catcher: Carlos Narváez, Red Sox
The Yankees originally signed and developed both starting catchers in this series. Their catcher, Austin Wells, was their first-round pick in 2020. Narváez signed with the Yankees as an amateur out of Venezuela way back in July 2015. He played eight years in their farm system, debuted for the Bombers in 2024, then got traded to the Red Sox last offseason. Wells and Narváez finished with almost the exact same number of plate appearances and almost the exact same WAR. This one's a toss up. I'm tempted to go Wells because the series will be played in Yankee Stadium and the short right field porch suits his lefty swing, but I'll give Narváez the nod because he hit three homers in 11 games against his former team this season. That's sticking it to 'em.
First base: Ben Rice, Yankees
With lefties starting Games 1 and 2 for New York, we'll see Romy Gonzalez at first base for Boston. He crushed lefties this season (.311/.378/.600). Nathaniel Lowe is usually in there against righties. Either way, whether it's Gonzalez or Lowe, Rice is the pick here. The New England native slugged 26 home runs this season thanks to high-end exit velocities and above-average contact skills. Veteran Paul Goldschmidt could get the start against Crochet in Game 1, though Rice has hit lefties well enough the last few weeks that the Yankees might just send him out there Tuesday. Goldschmidt typically comes in for defense late when he doesn't start.
Second base: Jazz Chisholm Jr., Yankees
Easy call here. Chisholm had a 30-30 season and might've made a run at 40-40 had he not missed about a month with an oblique strain early in the year. Against lefties, the Red Sox have started Nick Sogard at second in recent weeks, and he's fared well in very limited playing time. Gonzalez plays second against righties. So yeah, Chisholm's the guy. It should be noted that he exited Saturday's game after taking a pitch to his left forearm. X-rays and a CT scan came back negative. Chisholm did not start Sunday, but he did come off the bench to pinch hit and is expected to be a full go for the Wild Card Series.
Shortstop: Trevor Story, Red Sox
Story had his best and, not coincidentally, his healthiest season with the Red Sox this year. He slugged 25 home runs and stole 30 bases, though he was weirdly error prone at short, particularly the last 2-3 weeks. Even with those errors, Story is an easy pick at short. Anthony Volpe had another poor offensive season, including posting a career-low .272 on-base percentage, and he led all American League players with 19 errors. The Yankees gave José Caballero a few starts at short down the stretch and I suppose he could get the nod in the Wild Card Series, but I'll believe that when I see it. The Yankees are unwavering in their faith in Volpe.
Third base: Alex Bregman, Red Sox
The Yankees added Ryan McMahon at the trade deadline and he was an immediate and significant upgrade defensively. He hasn't hit much, though, including striking out in a third of his plate appearances in pinstripes. Odds are platoon man Amed Rosario will get the start at third base against Crochet in Game 1. Bregman had a strong first (only?) season in Boston, though he wasn't especially impactful after returning from a quad injury in mid-June. He hit only .250/.338/.386 in his final 63 games. Still, Bregman is the easy call here, especially once you factor in his postseason experience. The man is nothing if not battle-tested.
Left field: Cody Bellinger, Yankees
Maybe the single closest call in the head-to-head comparison. Jarren Duran is a dynamic power/speed threat for the Red Sox and, by WAR, Bellinger just had his best season since his 2019 NL MVP season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. I think the fact that the Yankees are throwing Fried and Rodón in Games 1 and 2 and that Duran is a .600 OPS guy against lefties is enough to swing left field in favor of Bellinger. Jasson Domínguez, New York's starting left fielder most of the season, was relegated to spot start and pinch-runner duty the last few weeks of the season. That'll be his role in October. Bellinger is the guy in left.
Center field: Trent Grisham, Yankees
What do you want from your center fielder? If you want offense and some defense, Grisham's your guy. If you want defense and some offense, then you want Ceddanne Rafaela. Grisham and Rafaela finished with nearly identical WAR and they went about it in very different ways. Grisham slugged 34 home runs and played good (but no longer Gold Glove-caliber) defense. Rafaela is maybe the single best defender at any position in baseball, though he also had a .295 on-base percentage. I've always been an offense-first guy. I can't pass up the 34-homer center fielder, plus it's not like Grisham is a slouch defensively.
Right field: Aaron Judge, Yankees
I don't think we need to spend too much time on right field. With Wilyer Abreu nursing a calf injury, the Red Sox have employed a Nate Eaton/Masataka Yoshida platoon in right the last week or so, and I would take Judge on his worst day over those two on their best days. Judge led baseball in batting average (by 20 points), on-base percentage (by 58 points), and slugging percentage (by 66 points) this season. And now that he's back where he belongs in right field, he again rates as an above-average defender.
Designated hitter: Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees
Stanton has been a terrific postseason performer throughout his career and he went 6 for 13 with a double and three homers in his final four regular-season games as the Yankees tried (and failed) to chase down the Blue Jays in the AL East. Boston has rolled with an Abreu/Rob Refsnyder platoon at DH lately, and with lefties on the mound in Games 1 and 2, it'll be Refsnyder, a former Yankees prospect. He's very good against lefties, but he's not Stanton.
Rotation: Yankees
Crochet is the single best pitcher in this series, but Fried is not exactly a no-name, and I do worry about Bello, given how worn down he looked the last few times out. Fried/Rodón is the better 1-2 punch, even though Crochet is the best pitcher in the series. Schlittler has been outstanding since being called up in early July and Giolito's elbow issue upends Boston's Game 3 plans a bit. Postseason adrenaline is a real thing and I would not be surprised to see Bello throwing gas in Game 2. That said, the guys the Yankees have on the mound will get the postseason adrenaline boost, too. The last few weeks have created enough concerns about Bello that I lean Yankees here.
Bullpen: Red Sox
Boston's bullpen (really, its entire roster) is loaded with former Yankees, including closer Aroldis Chapman, setup man Garrett Whitlock, and lefty matchup guy Justin Wilson. Their bullpen is very left-handed -- I suspect Whitlock will see the Judge/Stanton lane every game of the series -- and that does match up well with New York's lineup and lack of righty pinch-hitter options. The Yankees have had to navigate a shaky bullpen pretty much all season. It's been much better the last few weeks and the late-inning trio of closer David Bednar and setup men Luke Weaver and Devin Williams has a chance to be dynamite. It just hasn't been too often this year. Chapman's had an unreal season and Boston's bullpen has simply been better than New York's in 2025.
It's advantage Yankees at six of the nine position player spots, some significantly so, as well as in the rotation. And you know what that means? Nothing. It's a best-of-three series and trying to predict what will happen in any three-game span in this sport is a fool's errand. On paper, the Yankees win the position-by-position comparison. On the field, it really could go either way.
