If you grew up watching the Attitude Era of wrestling, you acquired the word “slobberknocker” as part of your vernacular, thanks to the great Jim Ross on WWE play-by-play. Payton Tolle, who, like Ross, is from Oklahoma, dropped that word into his presser yesterday, one of his many gems on the microphone.
As I started digging into the Tale of the Tape, I realized Tolle is right. The margins are razor-thin and we have a three game slobberknocker on our hands the next three nights. So let’s break down the Red Sox and Yankees position by position to see who has the edge.
Git it on!
The Infield:
Yankees: Luis Garcia, Jazz Chisholm, George Lombard, Jose Caballero, Paul Goldschmidt, Anthony Volpe, Amed Rosario, Ryan McMahon
Expect a lot of platooning and substitutions from New York in the infield. Over the final month of the season against left-handed pitchers, Boone usually deployed (from left to right), Rosario, Lombard, Volpe, and Goldschmidt. The Red Sox are scheduled to throw lefty starters in Games 1 and 3. Against right-handed pitchers (Game 2), the Yankees usually started McMahon, Lombard, Chisholm, and Garcia, with some Caballero sprinkled in. You may remember a year ago that Boone left both Chisholm and Ben Rice on the bench in Game One against the left-handed Garrett Crochet, a 3-1 loss for New York with Rice never even appearing in the game. They both returned for wins in Games Two and Three. That won’t happen with Rice again, but could happen with Chisholm (.218 in 2026, .227 career vs. LHP) until the starter is out of the game.
Boston: Caleb Durbin, Trevor Story, Nick Sogard, Willson Contreras, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Andruw Monasterio
The Red Sox infield lineup seems pretty cut and dry to start, if Contreras is healthy. Alongside Durbin and Contreras, Sogard was called up on July 29th and has started all but three games since. Story returned from the IL on August 30th and has started all but three games in that time.
The Yankees’ pickup of Garcia at the trade deadline really flew under the radar considering he was leading the National League in slugging percentage at the time of the trade. Garcia and Contreras’ seasons have been eerily similar, as they rank 8th and 9th in MLB in slugging. It’s a fascinating list, as they’re sandwiched just behind Junior Caminero and Pete Alonso, and just ahead of Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Schwarber.
Who has the edge?
The rest of the infield leaves something to be desired across the board. On the Yankees, only Goldschmidt has a wRC+ over 100, at 111, but that number was 83 after the All-Star break. For Boston, it’s only Sogard with a 105 wRC+, and that was in 66 games, although Story is hitting .291 over the past month.
Edge: Push
Outfield & DH:
Red Sox: Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Jahmai Jones, Nate Eaton
Boston will have Rafaela in center and Abreu in right, no matter what. In Games 1 and 3 against a righty, Duran in left field and Anthony at DH is likely. Anthony hasn’t DH’d in three weeks, but much of that was related to Rafaela being on the IL. In Game 2 against Fried, Anthony will probably move to left, with Jones, who rarely has been deployed in the outfield, at DH. Braiden Ward (61 stolen bases at Triple-A) was a pinch-running option but was not chosen to be on the postseason roster, in favor of Eaton.
Yankees: Ben Rice, Cody Bellinger, Spencer Jones, Heliot Ramos, Trent Grisham, Giancarlo Stanton
Obviously, there are a lot of moving parts. Grisham has been on the IL since early September but is back for the playoffs. Stanton last played on April 24 and was recently spotted running at tortoise speed in the outfield in an attempt to return. Judge said he wants to play, but he says a lot of things and ultimately was not put on the Wild Card roster.
Rice (DH) and Bellinger (LF) will obviously be in regardless. Against lefties, it will be interesting to see who plays center field between Jones and Grisham, with Ramos in right. In Game Two, Boone may elect to play them both, with Ramos sitting.
Who has the edge?
There are a lot of caveats here. Is a Bellinger, Grisham, Ramos outfield really better than Anthony, Rafaela, and Abreu? Absolutely not. Is Anthony the DH and, therefore, do we need to include Ben Rice in this debate? Probably. Also, the Yankees scored 50 more runs and hit 60 more home runs than the Red Sox this season, so they should get some edge at the plate.
Edge: Yankees
Catcher:
Red Sox: Adley Rutschman, Connor Wong
Yankees: Austin Wells, Ali Sanchez
Rutschman hasn’t hit a whole lot since joining the Red Sox (.222/.278/.410 slash line in 32 games), but Wells hasn’t hit a whole lot ever, with a career slash line of .213/.294/.397. Add in the defense, where Rutschman is 96th percentile in caught stealing and Wells is 15th percentile, and this should be a strong edge for Boston.
Edge: Red Sox
Defense:
As a team, the Red Sox were third in baseball in Defensive Runs Saved at +70. The Yankees were 13th at +27.
In team Outs Above Average, Boston was sixth at +20, with New York 17th at negative-5. Center Field was by far thebest OAA position for the Sox at +18, thanks to Rafaela’s +16. Left field and shortstop were the only positions that were below average, with Monasterio’s -15 OAA heavily weighing things down, a position we would not expect him to play in the postseason. No other player on Boston’s playoff roster had lower than a -2 OAA.
The Yankees were among the best at second base, as a result of a +13 from Chisholm, but well below average at third base, center field, and right field. Jones, Grisham, and Ramos in the outfield, and Rice and Rosario in the infield, all graded out at a -4 or worse in OAA.
Edge: Red Sox
Starting Pitching:
Yankees: Cam Schlittler, Max Fried, Gerrit Cole
Red Sox: Payton Tolle, Sonny Gray, Ranger Suarez
Setting the minimum at 110 innings to account for all of these pitchers, here is where they would land in the 2026 AL ERA race:
- Schlittler 1.95 (1st)
- Gray 2.72 (5th)
- Fried 2.80 (7th)
- Tolle 3.03 (10th)
- Suarez 3.22 (12th)
- Cole 3.61 (22nd)
How much should having the Cy Young winner on your team be weighted in this debate? Pretty significantly, I guess.
How much should having the worst of the six starters be weighted? If the Yankees win in two, it won’t matter at all. If the series goes three, it will matter very much.
Now, let’s look at postseason stats:
- Schlittler: 1-1, 1.26 (14 ⅓ inns.)
- Suarez: 4-1, 1.48 (42 ⅔ inns.)
- Cole: 11-6, 2.77 (133 ⅓ inns.)
- Gray: 1-3, 3.26 (30 ⅓ inns.)
- Fried: 2-6, 5.31 (76 ⅓ inns.)
- Tolle: N/A (faced one batter)
The Yankees not only lag with Gerrit Cole in the 2026 season but also will throw a starter in Game Two who has a 5.31 career postseason ERA in 22 postseason games (14 starts). Yeah, that cancels out the Schlittler edge. This has to be a push.
Edge: Push
Bullpen:
Red Sox: Jake Bennett, Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello, Wyatt Olds, Alec Gamboa, Greg Weissert, Erik Miller, Garrett Whitlock, Aroldis Chapman
I covered the Red Sox playoff bullpen recently. The losses of Justin Slaten and Tyron Guerrero are significant. andErik Miller’s control has reverted back to his Giants days this month, as he’s allowed runs in five of his final nine appearances this season. The Sox will have Garrett Crochet (6.30 ERA in a short 30-inning sample) and Jake Bennett (3.65) in the ‘pen for this series to counter the Rodon and Warren SP duo.
Yankees: Carlos Rodon, Will Warren, Ryan Yarbrough, John Schreiber, Paul Blackburn, Brent Headrick, David Bednar
The Yankees deployed only seven relievers, as they need to account for Stanton, who likely cannot play the field, and to maximize all of their platoons. In the regular season, the Yankees had the top bullpen ERA in baseball at 3.15, with the Red Sox finishing third at 3.27.
They’ll be relying heavily on their starters pitching out of the ‘pen, as Rodon (2.67 ERA) and Warren (3.92) pitched almost all of their innings as starters this year. Ryan Weathers (3.60), who is working his way back from a forearm injury and threw live to hitters on Monday, was left off of the roster. Closer David Bednar (2.47) and setup man Brent Headrick (2.18) have been excellent all year long, as has l Blackburn, who entered the season with a 4.97 career ERA, has inexplicably ended up with a 1.69 ERA despite a 3.75 FIP, 10.7 K-BB%.
Who has the edge?
While the entire bullpens top-to-bottom are a push, the Red Sox duo of future Hall-of-Famer Aroldis Chapman (1.92) and Garrett Whitlock (1.72), who has allowed two earned runs in the last three months, is an edge over Bednar and Headrick to push Boston over the top.
Edge: Red Sox
