Article: Rookies and Red Sox and Yankees, Oh My! Welcome to Sudden Death Baseball

[Brandon Glick]

By virtue of an otherworldly start from Garrett Crochet and a subsequently disappointing one from Brayan Bello, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees find themselves in a sudden death situation heading into Game 3 of the Wild Card Round.

The biggest rivals in baseball will counter each other with rookie starting pitchers, a rather foreboding premise given the stakes at hand. Cam Schlittler will trot out to the mound for New York, while Connelly Early will take the ball for Boston. You can be sure Aaron Boone and Alex Cora will tighten their leashes to the maximum setting; don't be surprised if the bullpens start showing signs of activity the moment the first pitch is thrown.

This is normally the point I'd start throwing reams of numbers at you. There's plenty to discuss, from Schlittler's hot streak (2.23 ERA in his final nine starts) to Early's impressive debut (2.33 ERA in September), but the truth is, once the game gets going, you have to throw all of that out. This is a winner-take-all situation; the abstract "intangibles" and leadership that people spend so much time overanalyzing are now set to have their time in the sun.

The Sox had the Yanks' number this year, winning the season series 9-4 and taking five of the seven regular season contests in Yankee Stadium. Does that matter now? It's hard to say, especially since a lot of this Yankees team went on a World Series run just last year, and a lot of this Red Sox team hadn't played in the postseason before Tuesday.

Does the "championship DNA" inside Alex Bregman, Nathaniel Lowe, Aroldis Chapman, and Alex Cora trump the longstanding October failures of Aaron Boone and Aaron Judge? Does Giancarlo Stanton's penchant for producing in prime moments rear its head in Game 3? Can the rookie starters possibly answer the call and deliver the performance of their lives?

It all feels so odd to ask, given that this is just the Wild Card Round. After all, the winner of this game needs to take on the top-seeded Toronto Blue Jays in a best-of-five series, and then they'd need to topple the Seattle Mariners (or the winner of the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers' own Game 3) in the ALCS just for the right to play in the World Series. The 2025 postseason is still so young, and "Game 3" doesn't have quite the same cachet or roll-off-the-tongue bravado of "Game 7". Even if the Red Sox come out on top, there's nothing -- other than good old Uncle Mo' -- that can possibly guarantee a deeper run into October.

Of course, that isn't to say this is for pride. The whole point of the postseason is just to make it to the dance; you never know what can happen once you get there. This iteration of the Red Sox is far from the best on-paper team in the playoffs, and it's almost certainly going to be the weakest version of the roster for years to come. Failure can be learned from, and there's no shame in losing to the reigning AL pennant winners, especially when your nominal Game 3 starter is out indefinitely with an elbow strain.

But this is the playoffs, damnit. The Red Sox earned their right to be here, and they've got one more crack at making a lot of New Yorkers really, really angry for the next six months. Connelly Early might not have been anyone's first choice to start a sudden death game in October, but neither was Cam Schlittler. This is all hands on deck. Rookie starting pitchers, taxed bullpens, injured lineups—all of it is in search of the only thing that truly matters in sports: winning.

For three glorious hours tonight, the oldest rivalry in America's Pastime will participate in a de facto Game 7 for the right to go to Canada. That might not be how anyone drew it up, but things rarely go to plan in baseball. All the Red Sox can do now is win this game.

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[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

You keep employing the word 'disappointing' when referring to Bello. Disappointing means expecting something good and ending up with something not so good. Was anyone here expecting a good start from Bello?

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

You keep employing the word 'disappointing' when referring to Bello. Disappointing means expecting something good and ending up with something not so good. Was anyone here expecting a good start from Bello?

Maybe not "expecting," but I thought he could go 5 IP with 2 ERs, maybe 3.

[Brandon Glick]

1 hour ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

You keep employing the word 'disappointing' when referring to Bello. Disappointing means expecting something good and ending up with something not so good. Was anyone here expecting a good start from Bello?

I like to think the guys I'm rooting for will succeed, yeah. Especially since it was his first playoff start against a team he historically cruises against.

[moonslav59]

43 minutes ago, Brandon Glick said:

I like to think the guys I'm rooting for will succeed, yeah. Especially since it was his first playoff start against a team he historically cruises against.

During the regular season this year, NYY had a .510 OPS vs Bello in 73 PAs. (3 starts)

Bello had a 1.89 ERA vs them.

Also....

 

Certainly the HR was hit hard, but a couple other hits were not.

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

During the regular season this year, NYY had a .510 OPS vs Bello in 73 PAs. (3 starts)

Bello had a 1.89 ERA vs them.

Also....

 

Certainly the HR was hit hard, but a couple other hits were not.

This is postseason not regular season. This is October not June-July. Bello last pitched against the Yankees Sept 13, and gave up 4 runs in 5 innings. Last night as short as it was was No surprise at all, and more predictable than not. I said before the game that Bello would be on a short leash, but I didn’t believe that short.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

This is postseason not regular season. This is October not June-July. Bello last pitched against the Yankees Sept 13, and gave up 4 runs in 5 innings. Last night as short as it was was No surprise at all, and more predictable than not. I said before the game that Bello would be on a short leash, but I didn’t believe that short.

Yup. and Sept 13th was regular season not post season, too.

I don't think any of us expected a long and great outing, but that was very short. The quick hook did seem surprising, especially when a couple hits were not hard hit.

 

 

 

[Old Red]

43 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Yup. and Sept 13th was regular season not post season, too.

I don't think any of us expected a long and great outing, but that was very short. The quick hook did seem surprising, especially when a couple hits were not hard hit.

 

 

 

Yes the 13th was still the regular season, but I think as the season wound down, and the innings piled up even though Bello pitched around the same amount last year he started to struggle more. I think plain, and simple Cora didn’t trust Bello last night, and thus the quick hook.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

5 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Yes the 13th was still the regular season, but I think as the season wound down, and the innings piled up even though Bello pitched around the same amount last year he started to struggle more. I think plain, and simple Cora didn’t trust Bello last night, and thus the quick hook.

The way Bello pitched in September Cora like most of us had little trust in Bello. If Bello has pitched well in that month, Cora probably would have given Bello a longer leash.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

The way Bello pitched in September Cora like most of us had little trust in Bello. If Bello has pitched well in that month, Cora probably would have given Bello a longer leash.

He also saw all the lefties coming up, and you know how he values splits.

[TedYazPapiMookie]

Let's face it.  There is Crochet, a proven playoff pitcher now.  And we have two future studs in Tolle and Early who significantly benefitted from this post season.  After that we have an incredibly inconsistent SP5 at best in Bello.  We have Giolito a better pitcher than Bello but like Mayer he can't stay off the IL.  And we have a lot of future potential pitchers going into 2026.  A full year of Tolle and Early with Crochet means a good possibility for a division title next year despite Cole coming back for NY. 

In 2021 Cora had a bunch of below average players play well and the team made the playoffs.  2025 was a repeat of the level of luck produced by a manager who has no understanding of how to manage.  Lose the manager and this team is a lock for the playoffs in 2026 and maybe even a division title.   If Breslow is going to hire a GM that will replace him at making trades and picking draft picks then I believe the growth achieved in 2025 will be reversed.  Keep Cora and the team is in trouble because the last time one of his teams had big success in 2018, he completely screwed the pooch in 2019.

Also, can Bregman stay healthy in 2026 while a year older?  Can Story play to the same level or was this a swan song season or career year?  Lots of positives this year.  Anthony looks to step up to an all-star level.  Duran in CF significantly improves the team defense with Rafaela in RF and Anthony in LF.  The platoon hitter Abreu is good depth except his defense remains suspect and his ego needs to be checked in the dugout, and someone needs to pull him aside and explain the priorities in the outfield.  The right fielder YIELDS to the CF and it's a good thing future all-star Rafaela was able to avoid getting run over by the overweight platoon hitter in the final game of the year when he ignored Rafaela and misplayed a ball hit to short right center.  He needs to be the 4th outfielder because Yoshida proved he's a fine DH.

The left side of the infield could be excellent whereas the right side will be a crap shoot.  A healthy Bregman and Story will make Boston strong.  A healthy Casas needs to complete with Lowe at 1B and possibly Campbell needs to compete for the position as well since he's been pushed off his SS position.  Mayer, the chosen one, will be placed at 2B until he proves he either can't play defense for a full season at the position like in the minors or he gets hurt again.  Then Boston has a long line of wannabe 2Bs in Gonzalez, Hamilton, Grissom, Sogard and who knows who else.  Lastly, can Narvaez not regress like Wong did after 2024?  Or will Boston need to pursue a replacement long term solution for Teel?  

The good news is the team performed way above their skill level in most cases.  The bad news is they probably won't have the scrubs play so well in 2026 much like in 2022 after they got similar performances from their scrubs in 2021.  More than anything else, the team needs to stay healthy to contend.  The off season moves need to be better than giving Sale and $17 Million away or trading a quality prospect like Priester for nothing in return.

Keeping Cora at manager will negatively impact the chances of having a Division Title or WS Ring in 2026.  Adding an unnecessary level of bureaucracy to the front office will also negatively impact the chances of success in 2026.  Time will tell.