ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Yankees reached the American League Division Series with a pitching surplus that made Aaron Boone’s first rotation decision harder, not easier. Cam Schlittler and Max Fried handled Boston so decisively that Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon never had to throw a postseason pitch in the two-game sweep.
Yankees rookie Schlittler, 25, went 14-6 with a 1.95 ERA, 239 strikeouts and a 0.92 WHIP, then threw 117 pitches over 6 1/3 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts in the 9-0 Wild Card opener while Boston never advanced a runner into scoring position against him. Fried finished the sweep. Rodon entered October after a 2.67 ERA season and eight scoreless innings against Tampa Bay in his final start.
Cole’s case rested on something different. He did not debut until May 22 after Tommy John surgery and finished 10-9 with a 3.61 ERA, 131 strikeouts and a 1.10 WHIP across 127 innings. He allowed 22 home runs, including seven across a rough two-start September stretch, but owns a 2.77 career postseason ERA. The Yankees had lined him up for Wild Card Game 3 before their 18-2 demolition of Boston erased the need.
Tampa Bay makes that freedom meaningful. The Rays finished 98-64, won seven of 13 against the Yankees and were substantially better against right-handed pitching, posting a .751 OPS compared with .678 against lefties. Cole still went 1-1 with a 2.50 ERA in three starts against them. Rodon shut them out for eight innings. Boone had four credible ways to arrange the staff, not one obvious ace and three supporting pieces.
The Yankees’ sweep also changed the rest calendar. Cole entered Friday on nine days’ rest, while Rodon threw a heavy bullpen session Thursday after being available against Boston. Sunday’s off day allows Schlittler to start Game 2. Boone was arranging the best-of-five series, not merely choosing an opener.
Boone restores Cole to the Game 1 chair
The Yankees nevertheless chose Cole for Saturday’s opener at Tropicana Field, with Schlittler scheduled for Game 2. Boone said the choice became straightforward once Cole was not needed against Boston.
“It was a conversation, but an easy one for me once Gerrit didn’t pitch in that wild-card [series], was lined up here,” Boone said.
Cole has not publicly treated that crowded rotation as a slight. “It’s one of the best rotations that I’ve ever been a part of,” Cole told reporters Friday. “And I’ve been a part of some really, really good ones.”
That restores the role Cole held almost automatically before surgery and makes the assignment a statement of trust. It will be his ninth career Game 1 start in a postseason series, counting the former single-game Wild Card format, tying CC Sabathia for fifth-most all time. The $324 million contract is background, but this is the stage the Yankees envisioned when they signed him.
Cole’s comeback carries a different kind of pressure
Cole missed all of 2025 and will make his first postseason appearance since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series. For him, the assignment represents more than restored status.
“It’s incredibly special. And considering coming back from surgery, there’s not much more I could ask for. I feel tremendously blessed.”
The matchup carries a warning. Cole generated a 21.3% whiff rate this season, below his usual level. Tampa Bay whiffed only 20.7% of the time, lowest in MLB. That puts more pressure on Cole to control contact rather than expecting swing-and-miss stuff to solve every inning.
That challenge may explain another part of Cole’s reinvention. The 36-year-old is throwing more changeups than ever, giving him another way to change speeds and disrupt timing instead of relying on the upper-90s fastball that once defined him.
Rodon split and Tropicana logic explain the order
Carlos Rodon made a real Game 1 case, posting a 1.42 ERA over his final four September starts. Tampa Bay’s .678 OPS against left-handers ranked 25th in MLB, compared with its fifth-ranked .751 mark against righties.
Cole did not dismiss that argument. Klapisch reported that he made clear Friday that Rodon could just as easily have been handed the ball for Game 1, another sign that Cole accepts how much deeper the Yankees’ rotation hierarchy has become.
The Yankees still preferred how Tropicana Field sets up for Cole. Cole posted a 3.41 road ERA versus 3.86 at Yankee Stadium; Rodon had a 2.08 ERA at home and 3.18 on the road. Current park-factor data also rate the Trop as less homer-friendly than Yankee Stadium, relevant after Cole’s 22 homers allowed. Rodon is expected for Game 3 or 4, Fried for the other home game if necessary, and Schlittler could return for Game 5.
Cole’s Tampa Bay history also supports the bet. In 23 career starts, he is 6-8 with a 3.33 ERA, 191 strikeouts, 42 walks and 18 homers allowed in 140 2/3 innings. In three 2026 starts, he allowed five runs in 18 innings and never more than three in a game.
His most recent look at the Rays also pushed his recovery into new territory. On Sept. 23, Cole allowed two earned runs and struck out eight over 5 2/3 innings while throwing 105 pitches. Klapisch noted it was the first and only time Cole exceeded 100 pitches this season.
Rays history gives Boone’s bet extra weight
Cole knows this opponent in October. In the 2020 ALDS, he won Game 1, then returned on short rest for Game 5 and allowed one run while striking out nine. The Yankees were eliminated when Mike Brosseau homered off Aroldis Chapman in the eighth inning of a 2-1 loss.
Six years later, the circumstances have flipped. Schlittler has already shown he can dominate an opener, while Rodon and Fried give Boone established alternatives. The Yankees are not asking Cole to start because nobody else can. They are choosing him because Boone still believes his experience, road fit and Rays history outweigh the cleaner left-handed matchup.
Cole also knows Tampa Bay can attack with power, on-base ability, speed and contact, forcing pitchers to defend multiple threats. That makes Saturday more than a routine rotation assignment. Cole has his old seat back, but this time he must justify it while three legitimate alternatives wait behind him.
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