How Red Sox Record Against Yankees Impacts Season Success

The 2022 Boston Red Sox had a rocky road against the American League East division at 26-50 clip.

The 2023 squad continues to make a major improvement in that department, particularly against the 2022 division champions.

With Sunday’s win to clinch a series sweep against the New York Yankees, the Red Sox are 8-1 against the Pinstripes this season. The mark also ensures that Boston takes the season series with just a single four-game series remaining with New York at Fenway Park in September.

Since Alex Cora was hired in 2018, the season series against the Yankees had direct ties to how far the Red Sox took their season.

The results are simple: If Boston beat New York in the season series, the Red Sox went to the playoffs. If not, the ballclub did not qualify for the postseason.

Here is a rundown of Cora’s four previous seasons at the helm.

2018: 10-9 vs. Yankees, won the World Series
2019: 5-14 vs. Yankees, missed the postseason
2021: 10-9 vs. Yankees, advanced to American League Championship Series
2022: 6-13 vs. Yankees, missed the postseason

The same can be said for other recent years without Cora. The Red Sox won the division with John Farrell in 2016 after winning the season series, 11-8.

In 2020, the Ron Roenicke-led squad missed the playoffs during the shortened season after a 1-9 mark against New York.

The lone outlier of the trend came in 2017 when the Red Sox won their second of three straight division titles despite going just 8-11 against the Yankees.

Boston has a gauntlet of a schedule remaining and plenty of baseball left to play. The recent trend against the Yankees, however, does give the Red Sox a fighting chance to return to the postseason after last year’s absence.