2026 AL Wild Card Preview: Red Sox vs. Yankees

For the most part, the Yankees’ offense was able to tick without Aaron Judge. It was not easy, as Judge missed three plus months and there were times where it became dicey. But thanks to Ben Rice, Cody Bellinger, and the arrivals of Luis Garcia Jr. and George Lombard Jr. in August, the offense improved.

Just in September alone, Bellinger and Lombard Jr. hit five home runs. Rice slashed .330/.450/.605 with six home runs during the final month.

The question now, though, is whether Judge and Giancarlo Stanton will be available. Which also brings questions with respect to how the club will align their lineup.

But even without Judge, the Yankees do have a good lineup. Although, the Sox are scheduled to throw two lefties out against a left-handed-leaning offense.

As for the Red Sox, the club got Roman Anthony back and playing over the final few weeks. Anthony slashed .242/.301/.432 with four home runs and nine extra-base hits, good enough to feel confident he’s more than fine.

What does help the Sox’s fortunes is the fact that Willson Contreras was able to play on the final game of the regular season. For a period of time, Contreras, arguably the best hitter in the Boston lineup in 2026, was not a clear go for the AL Wild Card game. He missed the Sox’s doubleheader against the Cubs on September 25 and expressed doubt about his availability.

However, the best hitter over the last month for Boston was actually Adley Rutschman. Rutschman, who nursed an elbow injury over the final few weeks, slashed .266/.299/.547 with four home runs and a team-high 10 extra-base hits in September.

A Look at the Pitching

The Yankees won the regular-season series, a set of games that saw Cam Schlittler win two contests against Boston. Now, one year after his breakout performance against the Sox in the 2025 AL Wild Card round, he’ll get another chance to stymie the club.

Schlittler was a key reason why the Yankees led the Majors in starters’ ERA, as the likely AL Cy Young winner posted a stellar 1.95 ERA and finished second in total strikeouts (239) among Junior Circuit pitchers. The right-hander is a true litmus test of fastball-heavy pitchers, although with three premium ones, it’s hard to argue with the approach.

He pushes Max Fried & Gerrit Cole, the two highest-paid pitchers on that Yankees staff, to duties in Games 2 & 3, respectively. Quite the scenario, especially when taking into account what Carlos Rodon did over the final seven weeks. Rodon struck out 39 over 38 and posted a 1.89 ERA over his final seven starts.

A nice problem to have for the Yankees.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, will throw out Payton Tolle to start the series. As we noted earlier in the month, Tolle was the king in terms of elicting chase out of the strike zone. However, he may have a tough time against a Yankees team that was among the best at avoiding doing that.

Then, Sonny Gray & Ranger Suarez. What does truly benefit the Sox is a deep bullpen, led by Aroldis Chapman, that led the Majors in ERA.

Our Prediction

This time around, the Red Sox may have the upper edge. A good bullpen, a good offense, a strong rotation to match the Yankees’ top three.