Aaron Judge is out injured and nothing is good in the world. The Captain will miss at least 10 days with a right forearm flexor strain, so the coming weeks will tell us exactly what this offense is (or isn’t) capable of without the best hitter on the planet.
Carlos Rodón gets the ball for his second start of the second half. He didn’t pitch poorly last time out against the Blue Jays but the Yankees’ porous defense means their pitchers need to be closer to perfect each start. In 21 starts, Rodón is 10-7
with a 3.10 ERA (130 ERA+), 3.63 FIP, and 139 strikeouts in 124.2 innings.
The Yankees offense has a tough task facing one of the best pitchers in the league. Wheeler is neck-and-neck with Paul Skenes in the NL Cy Young race, the pair first and second in pretty much every major category on NL pitching leaderboards. With Chris Sale finally winning a Cy last year, Wheeler is likely the most accomplished active pitcher to never win one, as he has earned votes in different seasons and finished runner-up twice. In 20 starts, Wheeler is 9-3 with a 2.39 ERA (180 ERA+), 2.67 FIP, and 164 strikeouts in 128 innings.
Everyone in the Yankees lineup will have to step up if they want to weather Judge’s absence and still emerge in a playoff spot on the other side. A lot of that expectation, whether fairly or not, will land on Giancarlo Stanton, but he’s done nothing but hit since his own return from injury, with a 147 wRC+ and seven home runs in 28 games including three tanks in his last four contests. We’re going to be seeing a lot of an outfield of Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham, and Jasson Domínguez, and while the newly acquired Amed Rosario is reportedly still en route to New York, Ryan McMahon draws another start at third after singling in his Yankees debut.
It’s hard to see how Rodón and more critically the compromised Yankees bullpen is going to slow down a Phillies lineup that has scored 21 runs in the last two games. Even if you mange to make it through the gauntlet of Turner-Schwarber-Harper, hitters in the bottom two-thirds of the lineup have done plenty of damage this series.
How to Watch:
Location: Yankee Stadium — Bronx, NY
First Pitch: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV broadcast: YES | NBCSP
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 | 94 WIP, WTTM 1680
Online stream: Gotham Sports App, MLB.tv
For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.
Sunday Series Finale. #RepBX pic.twitter.com/TQIfvEVy7o
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 27, 2025
Wheels up#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/MP22hipuBP
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) July 27, 2025
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