AL East title in hand, what's left for the Yankees to work out before the postseason?
The Yankees' Jasson Domínguez is greeted in the dugout after scoring on a single by Anthony Rizzo against the Seattle Mariners. Credit: AP/Lindsey Wasson
Now that the Yankees clinched the American League East crown on their third try on Thursday night, what’s left to decide before they open an AL Division Series on Oct. 5 against an opponent to be determined?
Clinch the top seed in the AL
The Yankees went into Friday night’s game against Pittsburgh with a magic number of two over Cleveland to earn the No. 1 spot in the AL playoffs.
It’s a nice thing to have for bragging rights, but would only come into play if the Yankees meet Cleveland in the ALCS. Manager Aaron Boone has already said he’d like to have the top seed but made it clear he’s not going to push his players too hard to secure it over final weekend.
“You’ve got to strike the balance between big picture and the day,” Boone said earlier this week. “Which, on some level, you’re doing all year. This time of year, obviously, with what’s at stake, there’s a little more of a light on that, but while also trying to keep guys – and multiple guys – in rhythm and involved and playing and sharp. You just weigh it as best you can.”
See how close Aaron Judge gets to his 2022 AL record of 62 home runs
Judge goes into Friday with 58 after homering in five straight games. But with the division clinched, will Judge even play in all three games?
The layoff before the playoff
The Yankees end the regular season on Sunday and then have five days off before their first postseason game. After Game 1 of the ALDS, there’s another day off. After Game 2, there’s another day off as the series switches to the home of the Yankees’ opponent.
The Yankees have to figure out how to not get rusty during their break.
“That question’s never going to go away,” Boone said. “The debate of it’s never going to go away. There’s no right/wrong answer. We’ll prepare as best we can.”
Boone pointed out that the Yankees faced the same scenario in 2022 and beat Cleveland in the ALDS in five games.
The playoff rotation
Gerrit Cole gets Game 1, of course, and the Yankees’ ace is peaking at just the right time with 11 2/3 scoreless innings in his last two outings. With the off days in the ALDS schedule, Cole would also get Game 4.
The decision the Yankees will have to make is do they trust Carlos Rodon for Game 2 and, if needed, the deciding Game 5. Rodon has been excellent this season and can dominate. But he is also the Yankees starter most likely to throw a clunker.
The third starter will be either Clarke Schmidt or Luis Gil. Schmidt has more experience coming out of the bullpen – 33 appearances, including postseason, to Gil’s zero games as a reliever.
The leftfield issue
If Jasson Dominguez was playing competently in left, this would be a no-brainer: The rookie’s power potential would likely earn him the nod over Alex Verdugo.
But Dominguez has been so shaky in left that Boone replaced him for defense with Verdugo in the seventh inning in Thursday’s clincher. Verdugo later homered.
“I haven’t played a ton of games in leftfield,” Dominguez said on Wednesday after he botched a ball down the line that fell behind him for a two-run single. “I feel like I can do it pretty much. Obviously there’s things I need to work on. But I feel like, with more work, I will get there.”
Prediction: Way too much ink will be spilled and way too much time will be spent worrying about this decision. Since neither Dominguez nor Verdugo is consistently hitting right now, the safest move is to use Verdugo since he has the better chance of making the plays in left. Dominguez offers pinch hitting and pinch running options if he’s on the bench, so that could be a factor as well. But in the end, the Yankees’ October fortunes probably won’t be determined in leftfield.
Boone hasn’t ruled out a radical switch: Using Dominguez in center with Judge in right and Juan Soto in left. It seems like a lot of moving pieces around just to get Dominguez’s bat into the lineup, especially since Soto has only started six games in left this season.
But the Yankees do have plenty of time to think about it.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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