You could say that the Yankees’ lineup is built for the short porch in Yankee Stadium’s left field. Their cast of left-handed bats well outweighs their right-handed counterparts.
Left-handed hitters account for 59.5% of the plate appearances taken by the Yankees this season. This wasn’t exactly the envisioned lineup construction at the start of the season, as injuries have sidelined the big right-handed bats, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.
In their absence, Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger have provided production in the heart of the order. Spencer Jones has really come into his own in his rookie season, and Luis Garcia Jr. has been a great addition to the lineup. Each bats from the left side.
Beyond them, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Austin Wells, Ryan McMahon and Trent Grisham have gotten plenty of playing time. Again, each of them is a left-handed hitter.
Without Judge and Stanton, the Yankees’ righty bats don’t exactly invoke fear. There’s Paul Goldschmidt, who has been one of the best bats in baseball this season against left-handed pitching, but beyond him, not much. Anthony Volpe, Jose Caballero, Amed Rosario and George Lombard Jr. are all glove-first infielders who live in the bottom third of the order. Trade deadline acquisition Heliot Ramos has disappointed thus far in the Bronx, hitting a putrid .145 with one home run.
How will this lopsided roster construction play out in October? What American League teams have the southpaws to neutralize the Yankees offense?
Boston Red Sox
This rivalry matchup is inevitable now. Neither the Red Sox nor the Yankees can gain any ground on the first-place Tampa Bay Rays, and they both have a comfortable lead in the American League Wild Card race. As it currently stands, the No. 4 seed Yankees would host the No. 5 Red Sox in the Wild Card round.
The Yankees won this exact series in last year’s playoffs off the emergence of Cam Schlittler in the winner-take-all game three. They have also already taken home the season series, seven games to six. Despite that, Boston is by no means an ideal matchup for the Bronx Bombers.
In a short, three-game set, the Red Sox have their pick between four lefties. Payton Tolle, Ranger Suarez, Patrick Sandoval and Jake Bennett. Tolle and Bennett have both found massive success against the Yankees this season. Sandoval, sent over by the Angels at the trade deadline, has thrown 5.1 innings of one-run ball in his lone start versus the Yankees this year. Bennett has posted a 0.73 ERA and a 2-0 record in his two starts, while Tolle has dominated New York with a 0.69 earned run average in his two starts.
Suarez hasn’t found the same level of success, with a 6.06 ERA across three starts, but that’s not the only option for manager Chad Tracy. From the right side, there’s current MLB win leader Sonny Gray, who holds a 1.98 ERA between his two starts against the Yankees.
In the bullpen, Tracy can turn to Aroldis Chapman, whose 33 saves rank first among left-handed pitchers. What’s a worse omen for New York is that the former Yankee has been outspoken about his feelings towards the organization.
There’s also the potential return of 2025’s AL runner-up for the Cy Young, Garrett Crochet. Despite just six starts this season, Tracy has not ruled out the possibility that the flamethrower returns in a bullpen role in October.
Boston holds a plethora of lefties they could deploy against the volume of Yankees’ left-handed hitters.
Tampa Bay Rays
If the Yankees make it past Boston, they get the treat of facing the American League’s top squad: the Tampa Bay Rays.
Their top left-handed starter, Shane McClanahan, was placed on the injured list on Sept. 4. At this moment, his return is up in the air.
The one-two punch at the top of the Rays’ rotation is Nick Martinez and Drew Rasmussen, both right-handers. The 35-year-old Martinez is in the midst of a career year. He has only allowed three extra-base hits against the Yankees this season, two of which were Austin Wells solo shots. He’s thrown 10.2 innings against the club, with the only runs allowed being those two Wells homers.
Rasmussen came into the year with a lifetime 1.19 ERA versus the Yankees. His first two starts continued that trend, combining for 13 scoreless innings pitched, 13 strikeouts and only one walk. In his most recent time facing the Yankees, they chased him before the third inning ended, tagging him for six earned runs.
Bryan Baker leads baseball in saves, but the Yankees tagged him for one of his three blown saves back in April.
The premier lefty bullpen options in Tampa Bay include Steven Matz and Ian Seymour. Their most likely targets, Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger, have always fared well against them. Rice has exactly a 2.000 OPS against both pitchers, and Bellinger is three for five with a homer off Seymour and a .308/.412/.615 slash line against Matz.
Chicago White Sox
The White Sox have the best record of any American League team not in the East. Their young roster has pleasantly surprised the South Side of Chicago all season. Their inexperience will be the biggest question mark as they embark on a playoff run.
They only feature one lefty in their rotation: Anthony Kay. Kay spent a few years in Toronto and has posted a meager 7.23 ERA against pinstripe hitters in his career. He’s also lost both of his starts against New York in 2026. Despite his throwing hand, it’s hard to say the Yankees wouldn’t be excited to see him on the mound in a playoff game.
Davis Martin has also struggled against the Yankees. He gave up 13 runs and 13 hits in 9.1 innings across two starts facing the Yankees this year.
That said, the other two Chicago starters, Sean Burke and Luis Castillo, have given the Yankees fits all season. Burke has worked 13.1 innings against them, not allowing multiple hits to any one hitter and only allowing one run on a Ryan McMahon wall-scraper. Castillo, the White Sox big trade deadline move, has bumped to the tune of a 2.40 ERA in eight starts against the Yankees. As a Mariner on March 30, he threw six scoreless innings against a lineup that still had Judge and Stanton. Castillo is also the only member of the White Sox rotation to have any experience pitching in October.
Sean Newcomb has pitched the most innings out of the Chicago pen. The left-hander has neutralized the Rice (0-2) and Bellinger (4-16) in his career, but a well-timed pinch-hitter in Paul Goldschmidt could counter the move, as the veteran first baseman has a 1.323 OPS against Newcomb.
The other prominent left-hander in the pen is Bryan Hudson. In 4.1 innings against the Yankees, he’s only allowed four baserunners and a run.
The White Sox have the pieces to dampen the Yankee offense. The only question remaining: does the young team have what it takes to compete in October?
Houston Astros
Someone has to win the AL West, and the Astros are currently in first. All of their starters are middle-of-the-road right-handers.
Christian Javier has seen them the most, putting up a 2.75 ERA in seven games. Interestingly, Judge is 0-14 with seven strikeouts against him. Peter Lambert and Hunter Brown both have numbers against the Yankees that are hard to describe other than ‘fine’. Their ERAs are 3.18 and 3.26 respectively in those matchups.
Then there’s Tatsuya Imai. He’s yet to face the Yankees in his rookie season, but he did give up two singles in two at-bats to Luis Garcia Jr. while he was still on the Nationals. His season ERA sits at an unimpressive 5.35, good for a 77 ERA+.
The two healthy left-handed middle relievers the Astros have are Bryan King and Bennett Sousa. While both have a season ERA over 4.60 and a negative WAR, King has limited active Yankees hitless in ten at-bats.
But if the Astros get deep into the game with a lead, they can give the ball to Josh Hader. Hader has been one of the most dominant relievers in baseball over the past decade, and his 0.69 ERA leads left-handed relievers in 2026. Judge has hit one home run in three at-bats versus Hader, but all the other New York hitters have struggled. Even Goldschmidt is only 2-12, albeit both hits were doubles.
The Verdict
The Red Sox very clearly have an advantage over the Yankees’ left-handed dominant lineup. If the Yankees can manage to get past them, as they did in 2025, no other AL team is truly designed to minimize the value of the Yankee offense.
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