4 Yankees X-Factors To Watch In Red Sox’s Wild Card Matchup

The Boston Red Sox will face a familiar foe when going to the Big Apple for an American League Wild Card Series against the New York Yankees.

Although the Toronto Blue Jays bested both teams for the AL East crown, only the Yankees posted a higher run differential (+164) than the Red Sox (+110) this season. Led by MVP candidate Aaron Judge and Game 1 starting pitcher Max Fried, the Yankees will bring plenty of star power into the best-of-three matchup.

Some particularly dangerous players ended the regular season on a strong note for the Evil Empire. The Red Sox must find a way to contain these four X-factors this week at Yankee Stadium.

Giancarlo Stanton

There are few scarier sights for an MLB pitcher than a locked-in Stanton. Held out into mid-June, the designated hitter didn’t hit his first home run until July 2. He still finished with 24, the American League’s second-most behind Cal Raleigh during that stretch.

Stanton hit .279/.352/.659 over his final 65 games and finished the 2025 campaign with a higher weighted on-base average (.395 wOBA) than Raleigh, Kyle Schwarber and Juan Soto. Only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani had a higher rate of barrels per batted ball event (minimum 100 batted balls).

Yankees fans also just witnessed how much damage a healthy Stanton can inflict in October. He powered New York to last year’s World Series by crushing seven postseason home runs with a .709 slugging percentage. The Red Sox need to prevent a repeat this week.

Ben Rice

Rice did his best Stanton impersonation down the stretch, batting .298/.356/.561 with 10 home runs since the start of August. He ended the season with two long balls on Sunday.

A bright-red Statcast page shows Rice among MLB’s elite with a 56.1 percent hard-hit rate, 93.3-mph average exit velocity and .410 expected wOBA. Unlike Stanton, the 26-year-old struck out on just 18.9 percent of his plate appearances.

Despite registering a .958 OPS through April, Rice lost playing time when a midseason slump coincided with a returning Stanton taking away DH reps. Yet another hot streak has prompted manager Aaron Boone to keep the 26-year-old in his lineup as New York’s catcher or first baseman.

Rice may start behind the plate over Austin Wells against Garrett Crochet in Game 1, but the left-handed slugger will pose even more of a problem for Brayan Bello in Game 2.

Luke Weaver and Devin Williams

The Yankees’ bullpen looks far better on paper than in reality. They finished 23rd with a 4.37 ERA, and it actually dropped to 4.74 after acquiring David Bednar and Camilo Doval at the trade deadline.

New York thought it landed one of baseball’s most dominant relievers when acquiring Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers last offseason. He took the ninth-inning duties away from Luke Weaver following a superb 2024 postseason.

Both pitchers have caused far more headaches than anticipated. Williams ended his first season in New York with a 4.79 ERA, a significant spike from his career 2.45 rate. Weaver’s 3.62 ERA isn’t too bad in comparison, but he allowed runs in consecutive outings five times during an erratic campaign.

Weaver was in danger of pitching his way out of New York’s playoff plans when relinquishing 10 runs in six outings to start September. However, the 32-year-old responded with six straight scoreless appearances.

Williams similarly surrendered three walks and four runs in a costly loss to the Houston Astros on Sept. 3, but he’s since worked nine scoreless frames. New York’s bullpen could pose significant problems for Boston if Weaver and Williams stay on track.