This weekend, the 2025 MLB regular season will come to an end. We already know the Yankees will be playing beyond this weekend, but when and against who is still to be determined. Thanks to a series sweep
over the White Sox, the Yankees have fought back in the AL East race against the Blue Jays and now come into this final series tied with Toronto for the crown. Considering that Toronto won the regular season series, the Yankees need to better whatever the Jays do this weekend, meaning the Yankees don’t control their own fate just yet.
While things could end up wrapped up before Sunday, there could very well be plenty to play for in all three games against the Orioles this weekend. Before the action gets going tonight, let’s take a look at the expected pitching matchups for this weekend.
Friday: Will Warren vs. Trevor Rogers (7:05 p.m. ET)
Warren’s first full season as a major league pitcher hasn’t been outright bad, but his numbers do generally grade out as a bit below average, mostly due to the nature of the ups and downs he’s gone through. He comes into this game on some slight downs. Two starts ago, he gave up six first-inning runs to the Red Sox, and last time out, he allowed three runs to this Orioles’ team, even though only one actually went down as earned. Considering how Cam Schlittler’s mostly pitched since coming up, Warren could need a very impressive showing to get a spot in the postseason rotation.
With a 1.35 ERA in over 100 innings this year, the Yankees are hardly the only team that Rogers has dominated, but he did dominate them in a game last weekend. Rogers allowed just one hit and struck out seven in six innings back on September 19th. Considering the implications of this series, the Yankees better hope they figured some things out in the turnaround since that game.
Saturday: Cam Schlittler vs. Tomoyuki Sugano (1:05 p.m. ET)
The other side of that potential battle for a possible playoff rotation spot is Schlitter on Saturday. He was pretty good against this O’s team last weekend in a game the Yankees eventually won in extra innings. If they were to decide the fourth playoff starter purely on stats, it would be pretty tough for Schlittler to be bad enough on Saturday to lose that spot, but obviously there are other factors besides that. Just on raw “stuff,” Schlittler definitely has an arsenal that could be interesting out of the bullpen, but if he’s very impressive in this game, it would be hard to relegate him to relief.
While he does have one good outing against them this season, the Yankees had no issues with Sugano last weekend. The Yankees knocked him out after just three innings, having put up four runs on six hits, including two home runs. That continued a run for Sugano where he has a 5.20 ERA and a 5.22 FIP dating back to the start of July.
Sunday: Luis Gil vs. Kyle Bradish (3:05 p.m ET)
Considering the tightness of the AL East race, the division could very well still be on the line when Gil takes the mound for the regular season finale. Following a less than stellar outing against the Twins back on September 17th, Gil bounced back with a pretty good one earlier this week versus the White Sox. As always with Gil, the issue will be whether he can keep the walks in check. Baltimore is in the bottom third of the league in terms of walks drawn, and this will be a game whether they have nothing to play for other than possibly being a spoiler, but Gil’s control will still be a likely factor if this game ends up mattering.
Bradish will go for the O’s, making his sixth start back since returning from Tommy John surgery. He struck out nine Yankees opposite Schlittler last weekend, and his ERA — albeit in only 28 innings — is an impressive 2.25 with a 2.45 FIP.
