Yankees’ postseason roster gets into shape as injured players return

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The Sunday lineup of the Yankees gave a clue of what their manager Aaron Boone had in mind for the upcoming schedule and the postseason roster.

The Yankees went into the Sunday game, which saw a rain-curtailed 2-0 win, against the Red Sox with six straight victories and were in the lead in the AL East. Aaron Judge led off as the designated hitter while Giancarlo Stanton sat. As expected after the return of injured players, also there on the bench were Josh Donaldson and Isaiah Kiner-Falefa. This mirrors a possible postseason roster.

Before it started to rain hard, Judge doubled, walked, and flew out to the center. If Judge didn’t have 60 home runs, which is one less than Roger Maris’ AL record, and the game would have ended a lot sooner than the 90 minutes that were spent hoping and praying that rain would stop allowing the game to resume. The Yankees won 2-0, making it their seventh straight win and the end of a 6-0 homestand. To win the AL East, they need to win one of their three games in Toronto.

That gives them a chance to start trying things out and figuring out how they will line up on the postseason roster. It seemed like that started on Sunday when Oswaldo Cabrera hit last, Aaron Hicks was deployed on the left, the role of shortstop went to Oswald Peraza, and Marwin Gonzalez was on the third.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman rejected the rumors that held this as the starting point of tryouts to build up the positional element of a postseason roster, although this was the beginning of the offseason. He told:

“We haven’t gotten that deep in the weeds on that,” the Yankees general manager said.

But little hints are being left. For instance, we might not know how many home runs Judge will have at the end of the regular season in 2022. But it looks like he will be the right fielder who hits first in the playoffs. Sunday, Judge was up to bat first for the 14th straight game. Harrison Bader started in center for the sixth time in seven games since he came back from a foot injury.

Bader is a must on the postseason roster. He has become more confident after returning from a foot injury. The Yankees were willing to give up Jordan Montgomery to get Bader at the deadline, and his performance is showing why. He has been good at the plate and on the bases, but the Yankees were most
interested in what he could add to an already strong defense. Bader has done that while moving Judge back to right, where he is the best.

If you haven’t noticed, Montgomery has a 5.34 ERA and a .871 OPS against after allowing one run in 25 ⅔
innings in his first four Cardinal starts.

Bader is playing, and the Yankees’ prospects of regaining others to finalize the postseason roster may
improve if they win the division. The Division Series is set to commence on October 11 and the division winner will get five days off. However, there are other off-days in the AL on October 12 and October 14.

So, the Yankees have more time to let Andrew Benintendi, Matt Carpenter, and DJ LeMahieu heal before starting the playoffs. However, Cashman surprised everyone by expecting Carpenter to return for the season-ending four-game series against the Rangers. This was a surprise because, as the player continues to have a limp.

The Yankees might also decide to have 12 pitches instead of 13 and 14-position players if they have
more days off. That could make it more likely for the Yankees to keep a bat like Carpenter and/or a speed player like Tim Locastro on the bench. Tyler Wade, who hasn’t played for the Yankees yet this year, could also be in play to see his suitability for the postseason roster.

LeMahieu might not be able to come back from the injury list before the Yankees finish the series at the
rough Rogers Centre. If Benintendi comes back, he would probably join the postseason roster as the first choice on the left field.

Yet, Cabrera is trying to be like Ricky Ledee or Shane Spencer in 1998, who came in as a rookie to play
left field on a strong team. Cabrera now has a .311 average in his previous 13 games, with four home runs. His OPS from the left since September 10 was 1.090 as of Sunday, trailing only Houston’s Yordan Alvarez and St. Louis’ Lars Nootbaar.

Cabrera will be on the postseason roster whether he starts in left field or not because his performance has been getting better and he can play more than one position. Aaron Judge, Rizzo, Bader, and he will possibly join Donaldson, Kiner-Falefa, Stanton, and Gleyber Torres. The Yankees will also get on board Kyle Higashioka and Jose Trevino. Benintendi, Carpenter, and LeMahieu are all in the running to
make it 13. Is Locastro the 14th, if there is one?

The postseason roster will be interesting to see if there are places for Aaron Hicks and Marwin Gonzalez.

After their division title win, the Yankees have to finalize things in a week. They have that much worth of
games to try out new things. In the five days between then and the division series, they can also play simulated games. Aside from how many home runs Judge hits, the Yankees still have a lot to figure out.

What is your take on the Yankees’ postseason roster?

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