The New York Yankees have punched their ticket to the ALDS after defeating the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card Series earlier this week.
New York outscored Boston 18-2 across the two games and will now begin a best-of-five series against the No. 1-seeded Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday at Tropicana Field.
One of the biggest storylines entering the series is whether the Yankees will add superstar Aaron Judge to their updated 26-man roster after his calf injury kept him off the Wild Card roster.
Judge Makes Statement on Rays
While Judge hasn’t been overly vocal as of late about his status, he has made it clear that he’s doing everything he can to get back and also praised the Yankees’ next opponent.
“They got everything,” Judge said, via Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. “We’re up for the task.”
The Yankees will have to submit their ALDS roster by Saturday morning prior to Game 1. If Judge is in fact added, it means New York would also have to remove a player, likely one of their bench bats.
“They got everything,” Aaron Judge, TBD for the ALDS, said of the #Rays. But, he added, “We’re up for the task.”
If so, the #Yankees will be in strong position for a World Series return. https://t.co/tlqNYKdB9Y
— Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) October 2, 2026
Aaron Boone Speaks on Yankees’ October Outlook
New York manager Aaron Boone made it very clear that he knows the Yankees’ next obstacle in the Rays will be challenging, but he’s hoping they’ll have a long month in front of them as they continue to try to extend their season.
“We have hopefully a long month in front of us,” Boone said. “And we know the next obstacle is a really challenging one with the Rays, but I love how [we’re] playing the game.”
Yankees’ Aaron Judge Makes Strong Statement on Rays Ahead of ALDS Matchup