Yankees certainly are buying what MLB is selling for postseason
From left, the Yankees' Trent Grisham, Anthony Volpe, Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. celebrate after defeating the White Sox at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Major League Baseball on Thursday released a new ad called “October Hits Different” to hype the postseason, which begins on Tuesday.
The spot features the game’s biggest stars, plus a choir, a 25-piece live orchestra and recording artist Pharrell Williams, whom you might know as the guy who sang “Happy” in the movie “Despicable Me 2.”
The Yankees certainly are happy with the way things are going. They are assured of hosting their first postseason game, either Tuesday in the wild-card round or Oct. 4 in the Division Series if they win the AL East title.
The Yankees remained tied with Toronto atop the division (although the Blue Jays own the tiebreaker) as both teams won on Thursday. The Yankees beat the White Sox, 5-3, and the Blue Jays beat the Red Sox, 6-1.
With three games to go — the Yankees hosting Baltimore, Toronto hosting Tampa Bay — the Yankees still have a chance for the AL’s top seed.
The Yankees are mostly an experienced, veteran team, as only a handful of their key pieces will be postseason newbies. There are rookie Cam Schlittler, who could be the Yankees’ third starter; closer David Bednar, who has been to two All-Star Games but not the playoffs; reliever Fernando Cruz, who will reach October for the first time at age 35; catcher/first baseman Ben Rice, who is in his first full year in the majors, and utilityman Jose Caballero, who couldn’t stop smiling on Thursday when asked about how much he’s looking forward to the postseason.
“It’s my first one,” he said. “I’m excited. That’s what you work for the whole year. Looking forward to getting to the postseason and seeing how electric this field is going to be. I’m pretty sure it’s more electric than regular-season games. They matter more — every game matters — but in the season you have time to adjust, time to come back. But in postseason, it’s all about today.”
As excited as the Yankees will be to begin their playoff run, they’d be happy to wait until Oct. 4.
“I’ll take the bye all day long,” manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s winning a series, essentially, without having to play one.”
Passing go, collecting $200 and starting their postseason in the Division Series is key for the Yankees’ hopes of a World Series return because they are not the deepest team when it comes to pitching.
They have Max Fried — and he has a World Series ring from Atlanta in 2021 — and they have Carlos Rodon, Thursday night’s winning pitcher. And then they have to pick from among Schlittler, Luis Gil and Will Warren for the other postseason starts.
In the bullpen, the Yankees in theory have a formidable crew in Bednar, Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, Cruz and the rest, but neither regular-season success nor previous postseason experience can predict future performance.
“Every year is different,” Boone said. “Every year is unique. There’s no question that experience always plays a role and I think is a good thing. Hopefully that proves true this year, and hopefully it serves us well. But that doesn’t mean you don’t see first-time teams or first-time players in the postseason thrive. So it doesn’t mean really anything, but I’ll take the experience. I’ll take having been through the battles and things like that. I think that is a check mark. That’s a good thing.”
Cody Bellinger is the other key Yankee who earned a World Series ring (with the Dodgers in 2020). He had the tiebreaking home run in the Dodgers’ win over Atlanta in Game 7 of the NLCS and then hit a two-run homer for the first runs of that World Series. Los Angeles went on to beat the Rays in six games.
Of course, the Dodgers won again in 2024, besting the Yankees in five. Two current Yankees — Amed Rosario and Ryan Yarbrough — were awarded World Series rings by the Dodgers even though Rosario had only 11 at-bats with Los Angeles before getting waived in August and Yarbrough was traded to Toronto on July 30.
As much as MLB wants fans to tune in to watch the game’s stars (Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are all over the one-minute “October Hits Different” video), sometimes bit players such as Rosario or Caballero or Yarbrough end up having an outsized impact — regardless of whether they’ve been there before.
“It’s the same game as the season, but I can say there’s more value if you do something in October,” said Rosario, who hit .250 with a home run against the Yankees for Cleveland in the 2022 Division Series, the only year he’s been to the playoffs. “Not just for me. For everybody.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
