Image of Aaron Judge (#99) Austin Wells (#28) David Bendar (#52) and Cam Schlittler (#31) celebrating after clinching their trip to the 2025 postseason. Credit: Yankees on X
THE BRONX, NY -- The Yankees have officially released their 2025 American League Wild Card Series roster against the Boston Red Sox, taking place Tuesday-Thursday this week at Yankee Stadium.
Starting Pitchers:
LHP Max Fried (19-5, 2.86 ERA)
LHP Carlos Rodón (18-9, 3.09 ERA)
RHP Cam Schlittler (4-3, 2.96 ERA)
RHP Will Warren (9-8, 4.44 ERA)
Relief Pitchers:
CL RHP David Bednar (6-5, 2.30 ERA, 27 SV)
SU RHP Devin Williams (4-6, 4.79 ERA)
SU RHP Luke Weaver (4-4, 3.62 ERA)
SU RHP Comilo Doval (4-3, 3.58 ERA)
SU LHP Tim Hill (4-4, 3.09 ERA)
MR RHP Mark Leiter Jr. (6-7, 4.84 ERA)
MR RHP Fernando Cruz (3-4, 3.56 ERA)
MR RHP Paul Blackburn (0-3, 6.23 ERA)
Position Players:
C Austin Wells (.219 AVR, 21 HR, .711 OPS OPS)
C J.C. Escarra (.202 AVR, 2 HR, .629 OPS)
UTIL Jose Caballero (.236 AVR, 5 HR, .686 OPS)
2B Jazz Chisholm Jr. (.242 AVR, 31 HR, .813 OPS)
1B Paul Goldschmidt (.274 AVR, 10 HR, .731 OPS)
3B Ryan McMahon (.214 AVR, 20 HR, .693 OPS)
1B/C Ben Rice (.255 AVR, 26 HR, .836 OPS)
UTIL Amed Rosario (.276 AVR, 6 HR, .745 OPS)
SS Anthony Volpe (.212 AVR, 19 HR, .663 OPS)
OF Cody Bellinger (.272 AVR, 29 HR, .814 OPS)
LF Jasson Dominguez (.257 AVR, 10 HR, .719 OPS)
OF Trent Grisham (.235 AVR, 34 HR, .812 OPS)
RF Aaron Judge (.331 AVR, 53 HR, 1.145 OPS)
DH/OF Giancarlo Stanton (.273 AVR, 24 HR, .944 OPS)
The Yankees will likely load up on right-handers to face Boston ace Garrett Crochet on Tuesday, so it begs the question: where does Ben Rice fit?
The Cohasset, MA, native has been a player-development win for the Yankees in 2025 and has improved as the season goes on. Since the All-Star break, Rice, in 203 at-bats, is slashing .281 AVG/.352 OBP/.542 SLG/12 HR/.894 OPS. My one concern is Aaron Boone’s constant force of veteran players like Paul Goldschmidt into the lineup. I know the numbers against left-handers are stronger from Goldschmidt, but Rice has been one of the best hitters in the Yankees’ lineup over the past few months.
While an official lineup has not been released as of yet, Jack Curry of the YES Network posted yesterday a projected lineup, loading up on the righties as I suggested, listing Goldschmidt not only in the starting lineup, but as the leadoff hitter. Boone also noted in his presser yesterday (recap here) that Wells would start behind the plate and Goldschmidt at first base.
Projected Yankee lineup for Game 1.
Goldschmidt 1B
Judge RF
Bellinger LF
Stanton DH
Rosario 2B
Grisham CF
Volpe SS
Caballero 3B
Wells C— #JackCurryYES (#@JackCurryYES)
8:00 PM • Sep 29, 2025
Austin Wells is also 2-for-9 (HR, 2B) off Crochet in his career, and considering that Wells has also swung a hot bat as of late — and is the better defensive option for the Yankees — he needs to be in the lineup as well.
The Yankees’ lineup has been one of the more dangerous in baseball this season, but it has shown some struggles against the league’s best pitching — though they got to one of the better pitchers on Friday. If Judge and Stanton are both locked in, with some of the supporting pieces contributing, the Yankees’ lineup will do enough to wear down even the best pitchers. The key for the Yankees: put the ball in play and grind out at-bats. Against Crochet this season, in four games leading into Tuesday, the Yankees have struck out a combined 36 times. Hopefully, as the Yankees see more of Crochet, they can become more successful against him.
The biggest concern for me heading into this week—the bullpen. Outside of David Bednar, who is showing some signs of fatigue as of late, who do you really trust in a big moment? Devin Williams has been very good for a while now, but given how his Yankee tenure started, faith in Williams is not fully there yet. Luke Weaver has had an up-and-down season but always seems to rise to the occasion when the moment gets big. Camilo Doval has looked much better as of late and is working himself into the circle of trust. On the other hand, Fernando Cruz and Mark Leiter Jr. are working themselves out of the circle of trust due to the spike in walk rate over the past few outings. Giving away free bases — whether walks or errors — in the postseason will cost teams big games.
One of my other concerns is the Yankees pitching rookie Cam Schlittler in Game Three of the series, if it gets to that point. Schlittler has been really good in his rookie season so far, but I fear that the pressure of the Yankees’ season resting on his shoulders could do some long-term damage if he does not deliver -- especially with the added pressure of facing the Red Sox, the team he grew up rooting for as a native of Walpole, Massachusetts.
@yankees Cam’s first time at Fenway ✍️ #yankees #mlb #baseball #camschlittler
The series will start Tonight with a 6:08 p.m. start time and will be televised on ESPN.