YouTube · Abrir publicación original ↗
The New York Yankees left the Boston Red Sox behind and now begins a completely different challenge. Tampa Bay hopes in the American League Division Series, a series for the best of five matches between two rivals who know each other perfectly and who spent a good part of 2026 fighting for the Eastern Division.
New York arrives with confidence after sweeping Boston in the Wild Card, but the stage changes from this Saturday at Tropicana Field. The Rays won 98 games, finished with the best record in the American League and took seven of the 13 clashes against the Yankees during the regular season.
The good news for Aaron Boone is that Boston's quick elimination allowed to retain one of the team's greatest strengths: a rested rotation with several high-level alternatives. The least favorable news is that Aaron Judge is not yet ready to return and was left out of the roster of this divisional series.
Gerrit Cole will have the ball in Game 1
The first big decision of the Yankees is already made. Gerrit Cole will open ALDS Game 1 vs Drew Rasmussen at Tropicana Field.
Cole finished the regular season with a 10-9 record, a 3.61 ERA and 131 strikeouts in 127 innings after completing his return from Tommy John surgery that kept him out throughout the 2025 season.
The right-hander faced Tampa Bay three times during 2026 and finished 1-1 with a 2.50 ERA. You will now receive the responsibility of setting the tone of a series in which starting losing would immediately increase the pressure on New York.
This is precisely the type of scenario for which the Yankees need Cole: first game of a divisional series, on the road and against a rival of the division itself.
Its main objective will be to prevent Tampa Bay from starting to generate early traffic. Rays do not need to rely exclusively on the home run to produce. They can create runs with bases by balls, speed, timely contacts and pressure on the defense.
If Cole manages to work six or seven innings of quality, Boone will have much more chance of managing his bullpen without having to use all his important arms from the beginning of the series.
Drew Rasmussen represents a huge challenge for the offensive
The game 1 showdown will not be easy.
Drew Rasmussen finished 2026 with a 16-5 mark, a 2.67 ERA and a 0.91 Whip. In addition, he has a particularly good track record against New York.
In his final start of the regular season against the Yankees he took a no-hit game to the seventh inning and ended up striking out 11 batters.
That's why the New York offensive can't come out desperately trying to decide the match with each swing.
The Yankees need to work on the counts, force them to pitch inside the area and take advantage of any opportunity with base runners. Against an opener of that level, there may not be five or six clear situations to produce.
Maybe only two will appear. And they will have to take advantage of them.
Aaron Judge is out of ALDS
The great unknown of the last few days finally received a response before the start of the series.
Aaron Judge was not included in the 26-player roster to face Tampa Bay as he continues to recover from the moderate strain on his right calf he suffered on September 16.
Judge advanced through the week with live batting sessions and progressively increased his activity, but running the foundations remained one of the main obstacles to his rehabilitation.
The Yankees decided not to take the risk of using a roster spot on a player whose mobility is not yet fully recovered.
Absence is important. Judge completely changes the way any rival builds their pitching plan and their presence modifies the depth of the entire lineup.
However, New York has just demonstrated against Boston that it can produce without its captain.
The Yankees need to maintain the collective offensive
New York scored 18 runs and hit 26 hits in both Wild Card games against Boston.
Ben Rice was the protagonist in the first meeting, while Cody Bellinger topped the production in the second. Luis García Jr., George Lombard Jr., Austin Wells, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Spencer Jones also made important contributions.
The key was that the Yankees did not depend on a single hitter or exclusively on the home run.
The team ended up batting 9 of 20 with runners in scoring position and also generated runs using speed, base robberies, good turns and pressure on the defense.
That style may be even more important against Tampa Bay.
Expecting only a three-run homer can become a dangerous strategy against a team of pitchers capable of limiting opportunities. New York will have to make races when needed.
Ben Rice is once again a fundamental piece
One of the hitters who deserves the most attention in this series is Ben Rice.
Rice finished the regular season with 41 homers and then opened the postseason with a spectacular performance against Boston.
But there is also an especially interesting fact for this confrontation: Rice produced an extraordinary against Tampa Bay during the regular season, ending with seven home runs, 12 RBIs and Ops of 1,320 in the particular series.
That does not guarantee that he will repeat that performance in October, but he shows that he has managed to see the Rays pitching well.
With Judge out, Rice is once again one of the batters who will have to take on an important responsibility at the center of the offense.
Cam Schlittler waits for game 2
The depth of rotation is probably the biggest advantage that the Yankees have when starting this series.
After Cole, Cam Schlittler is scheduled to open Game 2 on Monday.
Schlittler finished the regular season with a 1.95 ERA and 239 strikeouts, and once again proved his ability to respond in October during the first game against Boston.
In that opening he pitched six innings and a third without allowing runs and struck out 10 batters.
The calendar structure can also allow it to be available again for an eventual Game 5, a very important possibility if the series reaches tied to the end.
Having Cole and Schlittler to start the first two games offers New York a clear opportunity to compete from the mound even playing as a visitor.
Rodón and Fried turn rotation into a fortress
The depth does not end there.
Carlos Rodón arrives after an excellent closing of the season and Max Fried comes from working six innings of a race in the game that eliminated Boston.
Rodón dominated Tampa Bay precisely in his last regular season start, working eight blank innings.
That allows Boone to think beyond the traditional order of a rotation. Depending on how the series progresses, you can use different combinations, move openers, or have an arm ready to work multiple inputs from the bullpen.
In October, that flexibility is worth a lot.
Ryan Weathers adds another alternative to the bullpen
The Yankees also made an important adjustment for this round.
Ryan Weathers was added to the ALDS roster after continuing to advance in his recovery from a left forearm flexor injury.
The left-hander can provide length from the bullpen and offers an additional tool to face certain sectors of the Tampa Bay lineup.
The possibility of having a pitcher used to working several tickets can be especially useful if one of the starters leaves early or if Boone needs to cover a large part of a game without wearing down several relievers.
George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones arrive with confidence
Another difference with some recent Yankees teams is in the presence of young players capable of contributing athletics.
George Lombard Jr. immediately responded to his first postseason experience and ended up showing that the stage doesn't seem too big for him.
Spencer Jones can also impact several ways. His speed was important against Boston, including a sequence in which he converted a third escaped strike in an offensive opportunity, stole a base and ended up helping start a rally.
That type of play will have value against Tampa Bay.
Rays are a team used to pressing, running and taking advantage of mistakes. The Yankees need to match that energy and avoid becoming a static team that only waits for the long hit.
Tropicana Field has been difficult for the Yankees
The local advantage belongs to Tampa Bay and that cannot be ignored either.
The Yankees finished 2-5 at Tropicana Field during the 2026 regular season.
The stadium has historically presented difficulties for New York and the Rays know perfectly well how to use its features.
That is why Game 1 becomes so important.
If the Yankees manage to divide the first two games as visitors, they will return to the Bronx with the possibility of controlling the series in front of their audience.
If they manage to win both, they would put all the pressure on Tampa Bay.
But starting 0-2 would turn the return to Yankee Stadium into an immediate elimination situation.
The defense can decide matches
Against Tampa Bay there is no space to give out.
The Rays are particularly good at taking advantage of defensive errors, bad decisions, bases on the balls, and any opportunity to advance an additional runner.
A mistake that during the regular season simply costs a race can end up changing a division series.
The New York inner box will have to play fair, perform routine outs and avoid additional entries.
It will also be important to control Tampa Bay's short game, including possible ball touches and aggressive movements on the bases.
The series can't win thinking of Boston
The Yankees arrive with confidence after widely overcoming their historic rival.
But the 9-0 and 9-2 results against Boston will have no value when the first match against Tampa Bay begins.
The Rays won 98 games. The Yankees finished with 93.
Tampa Bay won seven of the 13 clashes between the two during the regular season and arrives rested after avoiding the Wild Card round.
It is a different challenge.
New York has a deep rotation, an offensive that has just produced collectively and young people who are responding under pressure.
But you will have to prove it again from scratch.
The keys to the Yankees to advance
The New York plan should start with pitching.
Cole needs to keep Game 1 under control and prevent Tampa Bay from building rallies through baseball and constant traffic.
The offensive will have to be patient against Rasmussen, produce when runners appear in a scoring position and maintain the aggressiveness he showed against Boston.
The defense cannot give away additional opportunities and the bullpen will have to retain advantages when they receive the ball.
And, especially without Judge, the offensive responsibility will have to continue spreading.
Rice, Bellinger, Garcia Jr., Chisholm, Wells, Lombard, Jones and the rest of the lineup can't wait for a single hero to appear.
The Yankees need to win as a team.
A new chapter begins in Tampa
Boston was left behind.
Now the Yankees season depends on finding three victories against the team that finished above them in the East Division.
Gerrit Cole will have the first opportunity to lead the way.
Drew Rasmussen will try to prevent it.
Aaron Judge will have to watch this round from outside.
And the players who took New York here will have to show that what happened against Boston can move to an even more demanding stage.
The divisional series begins this Saturday at Tropicana Field.
And from the first release, the season is back at stake.