Four rivals, 13 days: Five things we learned from Yankees' epic September stretch

With his New York Yankees in the thick of a 12-game gauntlet against four American League playoff contenders, manager Aaron Boone divulged his sleep strategy to manage the stress.

"Melatonin makes sure it doesn't keep me up," Boone said last week.

That 13-day stretch concluded Sunday with a loss to the Boston Red Sox. But the Yankees departed Fenway Park for Minnesota with a series victory, having taken the first two games against their rivals and feeling satisfied with their recent results.

The Yankees went 7-5 against the four likely playoff-bound clubs -- the Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers and Red Sox -- to solidify their hold on the top AL wild-card spot.

Barring an epic collapse, the next time the Yankees face a playoff-caliber team will be in the playoffs. New York has the easiest remaining schedule in the majors.

Starting with their 7-0 blowout loss to the Minnesota Twins on Monday, the Yankees' final 13 games are against teams with losing records: three against the Twins, three against the Chicago White Sox, and seven against the Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees are 38-23 against teams under .500 this season.

Boone, theoretically, should sleep easy -- which seemingly hasn't been an issue for his second baseman.

"We're the best team in the league," Jazz Chisholm Jr. said after the Yankees' win over the Red Sox on Saturday. "I feel like any team that thinks they're better than us, they should know that when we step on the field that we're coming with relentlessness and we're coming to step on necks. We're not here to play around. We're going to do the job and get the job done."

The Yankees should have the opportunity in October to prove they are indeed the best in the AL for the second straight year. What stood out during their dozen-game postseason litmus test? Here are five things we learned.

1. A risk worth taking? Aaron Judge is "walking that tightrope" in right field.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman confirmed the obvious before the series opener against the Red Sox: If the Yankees weren't in the middle of a playoff race, Aaron Judge would've spent more time rehabbing the flexor strain in his right arm.

"Obviously, we gave him the time to heal," Cashman said Friday, referring to Judge spending 10 days on the injured list. "And then now, obviously, you're doing the rehab progressions essentially live in games during a pennant race. So you're seeing the effects of that. You're seeing a guy that's slowly building his arm strength back and learning to trust it and then walking that tightrope of when to throw the thunderbolt and when to play it safe as he builds on his progressions."

Judge returned to the outfield on Monday in Minnesota, starting in right field after serving as the Yankees' designated hitter in their three games in Boston. In all, Judge has started five games in the outfield since Sept. 5 and hasn't thrown a ball harder than 81 mph -- a telling stat for someone who has a 100.5 mph assist on his résumé.

Knowing teams will test him, the Yankees devised and practiced unusual cutoff schemes during his throwing program to alleviate stress on his arm when he returned to the field. But that won't eliminate the very real risk of Judge aggravating the injury and leaving the club without him completely.

Why take the chance? The Yankees want both Judge and Giancarlo Stanton in the lineup as much as possible and, at this point in his career, the 35-year-old Stanton is not a suitable everyday option in the outfield. That became clear again in Boston on Sunday when, after getting Saturday off, Stanton started in left field and misplayed a ball off the Green Monster, leading to a leadoff triple for Jarren Duran that ignited a six-run first inning.

At the same time, Stanton is enjoying a resurgent season at the plate and is a proven playoff performer capable of carrying the team at times. It's a compromise the Yankees are willing to make to optimize their offensive potential. It's been worth the gamble so far, with Judge belting five home runs over the past seven games. And if all goes as planned, the Yankees, according to Cashman, expect Judge to unleash throws more regularly come October.

"Yeah," Cashman said. "Like anything else, I think you're seeing a player that is slowly but surely getting back to normalcy. But he's being smart and careful about it at the same time."

2. Anthony Volpe's time as the everyday starting shortstop is over -- for now.

Anthony Volpe's standing as the Yankees' everyday starting shortstop, after another inconsistent offensive season and a surprising defensive regression, is seemingly over -- at least for 2025.

Volpe didn't play in five straight games through Sunday, with the Yankees citing a cortisone shot for his injured left shoulder as the reason for the prolonged absence. But he also didn't play Monday despite Boone saying he was a "full player" cleared to play without any limitations. Instead, Jose Caballero started his sixth straight game at shortstop -- further indication that Boone will rotate the two players.

"Yeah, I think so," Boone said. "Obviously, [Caballero's] playing really well and does a lot of really good things, but there's a lot of value on the days he's on the bench too. What he brings kind of as a weapon and versatility he provides. ...We'll just see. Obviously we're at that time of the year where I'm going to do what I think's best for us each and every day."

The Yankees acquired Caballero from the Tampa Bay Rays at the trade deadline for his defensive versatility, speed on the basepaths and as an upgrade over Oswald Peraza as the team's backup shortstop. That night, Cashman said Caballero was not a threat to take Volpe's job.

But Volpe continued to struggle and Caballero has surpassed expectations in New York. The 26-year-old utilityman is batting .270 with three home runs and an .848 OPS in 32 games with the Yankees, though he's made some mistakes in the field and on the bases. Still, Volpe's partially torn labrum in his left shoulder -- and his .170 batting average and .571 OPS in 65 games since June 23 -- has prompted the Yankees to reassess shortstop with the postseason looming.

"We're in day-to-day mode," Boone said last Wednesday, the day Volpe was given the cortisone shot. "We're playing for a lot right now and I have a decision to make every day with the lineup.

"My hope is that he can kind of get it going here to a point where he is that guy. Because I think when we're at our best, he's out there impacting us on both sides of the ball and frees up Cabby to play a different role too. But, that said, I'll make the decision day by day."

3. David Bednar is the Yankees' closer. The rest of the bullpen roles? Up for grabs.

Here's what we know about the Yankees' bullpen hierarchy: Bednar has emerged from the pack as the closer. The rest is very much fluid. Ask any reliever and he'll say he prefers a steady role, but New York's relief corps, after allowing 18 earned runs in consecutive dismal showings against the Tigers last week, has recently found a groove.

The Yankees bullpen allowed 18 runs in two blowout losses to the Tigers. Then, over the last four games of the stretch, the Yankees' bullpen surrendered four earned runs across 12⅔ innings. The output included three scoreless innings on Sunday from Camilo Doval, Mark Leiter Jr. and Paul Blackburn to keep the Yankees within striking distance after Boston's six-run first inning -- a performance Boone took as an encouraging sign.

"For those guys to kind of pick up the slack, hopefully, it continues to allow us to create some depth down there," Boone said.

Then, on Monday, Luke Weaver, Boone's most trusted option on the bridge to Bednar, recorded one out and was charged with five runs, accentuating the group's perplexing results in recent weeks. Since Aug. 1, the day after the trade deadline, the Yankees bullpen's 5.56 ERA ranks 29th in the majors. Its -1.06 Win Probability Added is 24th.

On paper, the Yankees' bullpen should be better. Weaver, Doval and Devin Williams have all been successful closers at the major league level. Add Fernando Cruz's strikeout ability, Tim Hill's consistency and Ryan Yarbrough's versatility, and the Yankees seemingly have a championship-level group. It's about finally putting it together consistently.

"They're all capable, and they're all throwing the ball well," Boone said on Sunday. "We've just had hiccups along the way."

4. The rotation, right now, is elite.

Most teams' starting rotations would crumble if they lost pitchers as good as Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt, especially if they didn't turn to external replacements. But the Yankees held steady, refusing to pay exorbitant prices to bring in established starters at the trade deadline, and yet their rotation is thriving.

Since Aug. 9, the day of Luis Gil's second start in his return from a lat injury, the Yankees lead the majors with a 2.92 ERA -- more than a half-run better than the second-ranked Texas Rangers (3.44). Max Fried has bounced back from his midseason slide -- for the few still counting wins, his 17 victories lead the majors -- and Carlos Rodon has remained consistently reliable. The well-compensated left-handers give the Yankees one of the best one-two punches in the majors.

But Gil's recent dominance and rookie Cam Schlittler's emergence provide the Yankees with the required depth for the stretch run and October.

Gil was at his best on Friday, tossing six effectively wild no-hit innings in Boston. The reigning AL Rookie of the Year has a 1.89 ERA across seven outings since giving up five runs over 3⅓ innings in his season debut on Aug. 3. The 24-year-old Schlittler, meanwhile, has a 3.05 ERA in 11 starts this season behind a fastball that touches triple digits. The two right-handers should slot in as the Yankees' Nos. 3 and 4 starters, respectively, in October.

5. The Martian has landed -- on the bench.

For most of the summer, Boone, with three outfielders for the two spots alongside Judge in right field, rotated through Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham and Jasson Dominguez. Come September, however, Dominguez became the odd man out.

With Bellinger entrenched in the lineup protecting Judge, and Grisham enjoying a career season that has earned him an everyday role in center field as the team's leadoff hitter, the former top prospect has started just two games in September.

"It's his maiden voyage, and I don't think anybody had the expectation that Grish was going to come in and do what he's done this year," Cashman said. "So I think going into it, the plan was to give [Dominguez] a runway to deal with some growing pains, and every month, in theory, he'd settle in and establish himself as an everyday guy at this level.

"But Grish was like, 'Hey, don't forget about me because I can do some things.' And so essentially Grish has taken the opportunity to push himself into it and take it and has had a phenomenal season."

Dominguez, 22, has shown flashes of his potential. Overall, he is slashing .257/.331/.389 with 10 home runs, 21 steals and 113 strikeouts in 117 games. But the switch-hitter has struggled batting right-handed against left-handed pitchers -- he owns a .569 OPS in 104 plate appearances against southpaws -- and has graded out as one of the worst defensive outfielders in the majors with minus-9 outs above average.

The Yankees' lack of trust in Dominguez's defensive skills showed on Saturday. After Dominguez entered the game as a pinch runner in the eighth inning -- and was subsequently retired when he was hit by a ground ball as he ran to second base -- Boone chose to bring Austin Slater off the bench to play left field in a three-run game.

"I think Jasson's done a lot of really good things this year," Boone said. "And I think he has shown the promise of the kind of player he can be. The hitting ability that he has, the speed that he has, the power that he has. He hasn't taken off in the home run department yet, which I think will come with time. I think as he gets more and more reps, too, right-handed eventually I think will catch up with his left side. I think he's shown improvements in the outfield, although he's got a ways to go out there.

"I think, from a teammate and attitude standpoint, he's been excellent. He is ready to go every day. I think he understands where we're at in the season, and understands that a number of guys, in Grish and Belli, have earned the opportunity to be out there every single day -- especially at this point in the season."