Postseason baseball starts on Tuesday and that means new rosters. Formerly, postseason rosters consisted of 25 players but that number increased to 26 during the 2020 season. So who will those 26 players be for the New York Yankees? No one knows the answer; I doubt manager Aaron Boone or GM Brian Cashman even know at this point, but I want to try and take a guess at who those 26 will be.
I would anticipate the Yankees carrying 11 pitchers and 15 position players just like they did in last year’s wild card series. Some teams carry 12 or 13 pitchers but due to the series being short and only 3 games, I expect the Yankees to make it work with 11. Clearly, Cam Schlittler, Gerrit Cole, and Max Fried will be the starting pitchers carried, though I expect Carlos Rodon to also be on the roster. That leaves 7 pitchers for the bullpen. David Bednar, Brent Headrick, and Paul Blackburn are guaranteed but the other four have some more question marks.
For the last four pitchers, the options include Will Warren, Luis Gil, Ryan Yarbrough, Ryan Weathers, Michael Fulmer, Tim Hill, Clarke Schmidt, Fernando Cruz, John Schreiber, and Angel Chivilli. I think Fulmer and Gil are the first two to be crossed off. Gil tends to struggle with command and has limited action out of the bullpen and I don’t think he would be a reliable option. I think it is too early to rely on Ryan Weathers since he has not pitched in a game in over a month. I think Tim Hill will make the roster. He has playoff experience and gives us another lefty option out of the bullpen. Plus I think Boone will trust him since he has given us key innings in October over the last two years.
That leaves three more pitchers and I think Will Warren will be one of them. He has been inconsistent but he has made two relief appearances this season and looked fine making them. Additionally, he can eat innings if something goes wrong and he has good stuff that is capable of shutting down a lineup. Our opponent will likely be the Red Sox and his last appearance against them he went seven innings and allowed only one run. I think he will be available but I don’t think he will see much action this series. The next arm I think makes the team will surprise some people but I think John Schreiber not only makes the roster but is looked to in big situations. Since debuting for the Yankees he has an ERA of 1.80 and has been one of Boone’s go-to options. I think the goal will be the starter goes 6+ and then rely on Blackburn and Headrick before letting Bednar close but I think Schreiber will be next on the totem pole for who they turn to.
The final reliever option is harder to decide. Could they get wild and call up Carlos Lagrange, the team’s number three prospect who throws over 100mph on his fastball? I don’t think so. I think the moment would be too big for him to debut in the postseason but I do think it could be a fun idea. However, I think they will play it safe and keep Yarbrough for the playoffs. I don’t love the idea but it adds another lefty option. I think Cruz will remain on the IL, I think Schmidt hasn’t pitched enough to be chosen [UPDATE: he was placed on the IL today so he will not be on the roster], and I think Chivilli would have been back on the big league roster if they were looking at adding him. But who knows maybe the Yankees surprise everyone and go with someone like Yerry De los Santos instead.
So my final prediction for the 11 pitchers I think we will carry are: Cam Schlittler, Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Will Warren, Paul Blackburn, Brent Headrick, David Bednar, John Schreiber, Tim Hill, and Ryan Yarbrough.
Now for the 15 position players. There will be two catchers: Austin Wells and probably Ali Sanchez. I’m sure JC Escarra will briefly be considered by I think Sanchez will be chosen. First base will have Luis Garcia Jr. and Paul Goldschmidt with Ben Rice as the DH. Second base will have Jazz Chisholm Jr. and I would expect Anthony Volpe to be on the roster as well. Shortstop will remain George Lombard Jr.’s job and third base will still be Ryan McMahon and Jose Caballero. Left field will be Bellinger, center will be Spencer Jones, and right will probably be Heliot Ramos as it has been. That is 13 out of 15 already. I think Jasson Dominguez will make the roster to pinch run and be available as a backup outfielder if necessary. But who gets that last spot?
The options for the last spot would be Amed Rosario, Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham, Giancarlo Stanton, and Max Schuemann. I know Judge is one of the greatest right handed hitters of all time and wants to play, but I don’t think he will. The injury risk is too high and I think they will save him for later on in the postseason if they are to win this series. Then for Grisham I don’t think he is healthy enough either. Stanton hasn’t played since April 24th with a series of leg injuries so I would be shocked to see him too. That leaves Schuemann and Rosario, neither I would expect to play but I would lean Rosario due to his impact in the clubhouse and since he has been on the team the entire season. So I would expect Rosario for the last spot. However, I want to get a little fun with these predictions. I’ve had every injured guy not making the roster which is probably the most realistic but what if any of them are available. And for the last roster spot I will pick one. I’m going with Stanton to make the postseason roster. It’ll surprise everyone when it happens and he will only be used as a late game pinch hitter and will immediately get pinch run for if he gets a hit, but having his bat in an important moment after his past October success could be a huge addition.
So my realistic prediction would be Wells, Sanchez, Goldschmidt, Garcia, Rice, Chisholm, Volpe, Lombard, McMahon, Caballero, Bellinger, Ramos, Jones, Dominguez, and Rosario, but I will go with Stanton over Rosario in this prediction for fun. I also wouldn’t be stunned if Dominguez was off the roster if Grisham were available but we’ll see next week.
I hope the Yankees take some risks and don’t play it safe. I would love to see Lagrange come out of the pen and strike someone out with a 102mph fastball, I would love to see Stanton or Judge hit a big home run; but I really don’t expect many big risks. I am taking a shot saying Stanton makes the roster but besides that I expect the safe decisions for the most part. I would love to be proven wrong but I don’t think they will want to risk anything. With that, here is a full list of my predictions for the playoff roster:
SP: Cam Schlittler, Max Fried, Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon
RP: Paul Blackburn, Brent Headrick, David Bednar, Will Warren, Tim Hill, John Schreiber, Ryan Yarbrough
C: Austin Wells, Ali Sanchez
1B: Luis Garcia Jr., Paul Goldschmidt
2B: Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe
3B: Ryan McMahon, Jose Caballero
SS: George Lombard Jr.
OF: Cody Bellinger, Spencer Jones, Heliot Ramos, Jasson Dominguez
DH: Ben Rice, Giancarlo Stanton
I look forward to the postseason starting next week and think the Yankees have a shot at making the World Series but I also think they could crash and burn in the wild card. At their best I think they are the best team in the American League. But there have also been long stretches of the season where they could barely score any runs and I would not be shocked to see that again against October pitching. I trust our pitching staff and of course will be making the unbiased prediction that they will be winning the AL pennant. Hopefully that prediction doesn’t get proven wrong in less than a week but all we can do is wait and see.