We start the circus in the Bronx.
What a night we have before us.
Both Garret Crochet and Max Fried will receive Cy Young votes, and both have been excellent across 2025. Crochet will likely finish second in Cy voting, being slightly more consistent than Fried, but at their best, this is a classic Friday night showdown on the college circuit.
The Yankees will stack their lineup against the lefty Crochet, with Paul Goldschmidt at first, Amed Rosario at second, and José Caballero at the hot corner. A big part of the club’s Trade Deadline strategy was improving performance against left-handed pitching, and tonight is perhaps the biggest test of that approach. (Don’t worry about seeing Austin Slater though, as the Yankees chose to roster third catcher J.C. Escarra over Slater, who hasn’t done much in pinstripes.)
Aaron Boone will need to prove his mettle as a manager once Crochet is pulled. There’s a lot of left-handed power on the bench, with 57 combined home run between Ben Rice and Jazz Chisholm Jr. Getting their bats into the lineup once Boston starts deploying right-handed relievers will be key.
Meanwhile, this will be Fried’s fourth start against Boston this year, and he owns a 1.96 ERA against the club in 2025. 22 strikeouts against seven walks in 18.1 innings is promising, as is his 1.55 ERA across his last seven starts. The Yankees have lined things up as best as you can get. As the Yanks are doing with Crochet though, Boston has stacked its lefty mashers, with Romy Gonzalez and Rob Refsnyder both taking prominent positions in the lineup at leadoff and cleanup, respectively.
Having home-field advantage in this series will likely end up a big deal. The last time the Yankees met the Sox in the playoffs, it was a one-game showdown in 2021 that came on a cold night in Boston. It’ll be about 74 degrees at first pitch in the Bronx, and it feels like a night we might see the ghosts of the old Stadium pop up once or twice.
How to Watch:
Location: Yankee Stadium — Bronx, NY
First Pitch: 6:08 p.m. EDT
TV broadcast: ESPN (National)
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 | ESPN Radio
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Category: General Sports
