Aug 17, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Luke Weaver (30) pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Yankees Playoff Scenarios Looking Better

Originally posted on New York Yankees on SI
By Delilah Bourque | Last updated Aug 18, 2025 5:00 PM ET

The New York Yankees have finally clawed their way back to more comfortable playoff contention. While the Pinstripes are still in the third AL Wild Card spot, they've pulled ahead of the next-best team, the Cleveland Guardians.

While the Guardians haven't helped their case by dropping three of their last six games, the Yankees have seemingly pulled it together again. They swept the St. Louis Cardinals, even with sluggers like Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge facing injury complications.

Other parts snapped into place, too. Luis Gil seemed back in fighting shape during his third game back from a long rehabilitation process, shutting down the Cardinals to just four hits and one run during the teams' first of three matchups. The Yankees' bullpen, which has been one of the biggest sources of the team's struggles this season, should be getting both Fernando Cruz and Ryan Yarbrough back soon, hopefully taking the strain off struggling relievers like Yerry De los Santos and Devin Williams. With these pieces coming together, the Yankees might just regain some of the power they had at the beginning of the season.

Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

If the playoffs were to begin right now, the Yankees would play their first series of the post-season against the third-place AL team, the Houston Astros. This isn't a new development, but the race for the AL is incredibly tight, with the Astros' win percentage only .016% better than the Yankees.

While the race for top dog in the AL is tight, the wild card standings are even tighter. The Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners are tied with the exact same record (68-57): and the Yankees are closing in. Should New York secure a better spot in the Wild Card standings, they'd be playing either the Toronto Blue Jays or Detroit Tigers. Both teams are liable to be more problematic for the Pinstripes. They're 3-7 agains Toronto this season and 1-2 against Detroit (though it's worth noting they have that same record against the Houston.)

While the Yankees are still in the third place of the Al East, they're only one game behind the Red Sox, against whom they have an upcoming series. If New York can hit the gas in their next five outings, all against division teams, there's no telling where they could be by the end of the regular season.

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