Major League Baseball’s new three-game Wild Card format leaves little room for error. Two bad games can spell the end of a team’s season. With the Yankees and Red Sox set to square off for the second straight year in the first round, the Yankees just released their roster for the series.
Here’s the role every player will need to play to get past Boston.
The Starters
The Yankees will pitch Cam Schlittler and Max Fried in the first two games.
Their job is simple: go out and shove. Schlittler and Fried are two of the sport’s most dominant pitchers, with the former all but guaranteed the Cy Young award in 2026. If they do their job right, we won’t even see Gerrit Cole in this series, the projected Game 3 starter.
If the series gets to Cole, it will be up to him to save the season. The longtime Yankee ace has not pitched in the playoffs since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, where his failure to cover first base ultimately ended the Yankees’ season.
He’s also had trouble against Boston before. In the 2021 one-game Wild Card against the Sox, he didn’t make it out of the third inning as the Yankees were eliminated. His pitching against the 2026 Red Sox provides no such margin for error.
The Back End of the Bullpen
The three-headed monster of David Bednar, Paul Blackburn and Brent Headrick has helped the Yankees secure late-game wins all season. Their collective ERA is 2.09 across 2o7 appearances.
Whether they’re needed to get through the 7th, 8th and 9th innings, or to get out of a jam in the middle of the game, Aaron Boone’s top bullpen arms will be a necessity.
Bednar was tied for fifth in MLB with 35 saves, alongside the Red Sox’ Aroldis Chapman. Headrick, meanwhile, was second in games pitched with 81. Over half of New York’s games, as they only played 161 games.
The Other Arms
The Yankees rostered four other pitchers. Traditional starters Carlos Rodon and Will Warren are there as a “break glass in case of emergency” situation. In a perfect world, Rodon does not throw a pitch until the ALDS.
Warren’s been used as a bullpen arm sporadically. He has three relief appearances this year and has shown he can throw an effective 2-3 innings out of the pen when needed. If one of the three slated starters has trouble early, he’ll probably be the first one warming up.
John Schreiber was waived by the Royals at the end of August and has allowed just two runs in 11 innings of work in pinstripes. While not the number one high-leverage guy, he’s more than capable of handling an inning or two in this series if his name is called.
Then there’s Ryan Yarbrough. A soft-tossing lefty, he’s on this roster to eat innings if a game really gets out of reach. He’s by no means a pitcher that Boone wants to throw with a lead. In 23 of his 36 relief appearances, the Yankees were already trailing. He’s entered only two games all season where the score was tied, or the Yankees had a lead of three or less.
Yabrough, Headrick and Rodon are the only three lefties Boone has available out of the pen. In a situation where a dominant left-handed bat like Wilyer Abreu or Roman Anthony is at the plate, it’s not hard to see a world where Rodon comes out of the pen.
The Catchers
The Yankees catchers cannot hit. Plain and simple. As a unit, they have the fourth-worst OPS of any team (.599).
Austin Wells did have a big moment in 2025’s iteration, but has had little success at the plate this season. Maybe he runs into one and finds the short porch, but the real goal for him and backup Ali Sanchez?
No passed balls, limit the strikeouts.
If this tandem can be invisible this series, that might be all you can ask for. Gary Sanchez used to make headlines because his play behind the dish was so poor.
It’d be nice to see Wells have another game-winning hit. But that’s a lot to ask. Just squeaking with the pair calling a good game and handling the pitching staff might be all one can ask.
The Run-Producers
The Yankees only had two players this season drive in over 60 runs. All-Star Game MVP Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice, who is all but guaranteed to secure a few down-ballot MVP votes.
The offense has carried the weight all season. This series will be no different. If these two aren’t moving runners around the bases or launching balls over the fence, it’s hard to imagine a world where the Yankees make it out.
There’s also Luis Garcia Jr. The trade-deadline acquisition led the National League in slugging percentage when he was dealt to New York. He’s slumped down the stretch, and his Yankees numbers are not all that impressive. He’s hit seven long balls and only collected 16 RBI.
The Yankees brought him in to be another thumper in the middle of the order. His help for Bellinger and Rice will lengthen this Bronx Bomber order a great deal.
The Lefty-Mashers
Paul Goldschmidt has been one of the absolute best hitters versus left-handed pitching this year. His .967 OPS finished as the ninth-best mark in the majors against southpaws.
The veteran has been a steadying presence for the Yankees all season, and against a Boston pitching staff with lefties in the rotation and out of the bullpen, he’ll be needed.
Heliot Ramos hasn’t been what the Yankees hoped for when they traded for him at the deadline. His batting average is below the Mendoza line (.198), and he went almost a full month before his first homer with the team. In a left-handed-heavy lineup, he’ll have to step up and provide some value from the right side, especially with Aaron Judge being left off the roster.
It’s been the one part of his game where he hasn’t been deadweight. His OPS sits at 1.028 against the left side since coming to the Bronx, driving in seven of his 13 RBI against that half of the platoon.
The Rookies
There aren’t obviously a ton of postseason expectations for George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones, but both have been a mainstay in the Yankee order for the last six weeks of the season.
With the volume they’ll see against Boston, one can hope they’ll be able to make the Yankee faithful proud early in their careers.
The Yankees haven’t had a duo of rookies in their October lineup since 2018, when Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar were both Rookie of the Year finalists.
They went a combined 6-26, with no extra-base hits as the Yankees fell to the Boston Red Sox in a four-game series in the ALDS.
The Other Infielders
The Yankees roster an additional five infielders that haven’t been discussed yet. Jose Caballero, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Ryan McMahon, Amed Rosario and Anthony Volpe.
They’ve all had a disappointing 2026, to say the least. Every one of them has an OPS+ below 100, and Volpe’s .245 is the highest batting average in the collection.
To make it through Boston, they’ll have to play clean defense and move the runners over. So often in October, it comes down to limiting mistakes and putting the ball in play.
Along with Wells, this group figures to make up the bottom half of the Yankee order. Much has been made of the top-heavy Yankee order. If they can spark a rally or keep the momentum going, the Yankees will be in a really good spot.
Every bit of offense these infielders can provide improves the Yankees’ odds that much more. Clean defense is a must; productive at-bats are a plus.
The Returners
Trent Grisham has not played since September 4. Giancarlo Stanton has not played since April 24.
Both of them made the Wild Card roster.
Grisham will probably platoon with Ramos. His defense isn’t what it used to be, grading out in the 18th percentile in the field, according to Baseball Savant.
He’s obviously no stranger to the big moment, as Yankee fans have seen before.
Then there’s Stanton. Yankee fans have become incredibly frustrated with his inability to get on the field. The last time he qualified for a batting title was 2021.
But he’s always shown up in October. He has 18 homers in the postseason as a Yankee, tying him with Mickey Mantle. Only Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter have more. His seven long balls in the 2024 World Series run are the most for a Bronx Bomber in a single postseason.
He won’t play the field; he won’t run the bases. But if Giancarlo Stanton can send a ball into the New York night sky at the right time, it might be enough to win Yankee fans over and send his team to the ALDS.
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