The New York Yankees will face the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card Series for the second straight postseason. Yankees manager Aaron Boone spoke about that after the Red Sox clinched the American League’s No. 5 seed.
“Obviously, tremendous rivalry,” said Boone on YES Network’s postgame coverage. “A team that’s had a resurgent season after a really difficult start. I think they’re really good; I’ve felt that way all year.
“Also real confident if we play our game and pitch like we’re capable of, we got a chance to move on. We got to play our best starting Tuesday.”
The Yankees and Red Sox will match up for the seventh time in the postseason since 1999. Boone is no stranger to the rivalry, as his home run to end the 2003 American League Championship Series is one of its biggest moments.
Yankees Manager Aaron Boone on Facing Red Sox in Wild Card Series
While Boone said that the potential series has probably been percolating for a month, he admitted that they didn’t set their pitching plans with that in mind.
“Certainly you start planning for them, but I don’t know had it been a different team, if anything would be different necessarily,” said Boone.
The two American League East rivals will square off at Yankee Stadium on September 29-October 1. The Yankees earned that privilege by taking three of four from the Red Sox at the end of August. That allowed them to win the season series and put them in a great position to host the series.
Boone hopes that having home field will make a difference, saying so with a joking demeanor.
“I’d much rather have it here. I want it in the Bronx; I want it with our fans. I certainly think there’s that advantage. As a baseball team, if we had to go on the road, I’d never feel like we couldn’t overcome it. And I’m sure — I don’t know the history over the last 20-30 years in the Wild Card Era, what the numbers are — but it comes down to who plays better.”
Yankees Rotation for Wild Card Series
The Yankees have a lot of options for the Wild Card Series. They could turn to three of Gerrit Cole, Cam Schlittler, Max Fried, and Carlos Rodon for their starting rotation.
The most likely scenario is Gerrit Cole for Game 1, Cam Schlittler for Game 2, then Max Fried or Carlos Rodon for Game 3, if necessary. They could move one of their starters to the bullpen in the case of a short start or injury.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone should provide details on how they plan to deploy their rotation as they get closer. For now, he’ll likely keep his cards close to the vest for the remainder of the regular season.
Yankees Manager Aaron Boone Makes Statement Ahead of Wild Card Series vs. Red Sox