It isn't up to him, but CC Sabathia has a feeling who will be on the mound for the New York Yankees when they take on the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Division Series. Speaking on the Peacock studio show Wednesday, Sept. 30 after the Yankees eliminated the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of their AL wild-card series, host Ahmed Fareed told Sabathia that Gerrit Cole would be ready to start against the Rays on Saturday in Tampa Bay. "Yeah, and then (Carlos) Rodon after that," Sabathia continued.
"Now they're set up with two other aces to start the first two games." Sabathia, who wrapped up his Hall of Fame career in a Yankee uniform and is now working as a studio analyst with NBC Sports, started 18 postseason games in pinstripes from 2009-19, going 8-4 with a 3.42 ERA. Yet not even he saw the Yankees' pitching staff dominate the Red Sox like they just did this week. More news: Devastating Roman Anthony Injury Update Dooms Red Sox’s Chances vs Yankees The Yankees' 26 scoreless innings against Boston dating to last year were the most consecutive scoreless innings the Yankees have ever thrown in the postseason against a single opponent.
The streak ended in the Yankees' 9-2 win over Boston on Wednesday, but the Red Sox did too little to prevent their archrivals from moving on to Tampa. More news: Yankees’ George Lombard Jr. Makes 124-Year Franchise History Cam Schlittler and Max Fried combined to allow one run in 12.1 innings in the two wild-card games against the Red Sox.
Both will be rested enough to start Game 3 on Oct. 7 if Yankees manager Aaron Boone chooses. No one — least of all Sabathia — would be surprised if Cole gets the ball in Game 1. The right-hander went 10-9 with a 3.61 ERA in 22 regular-season starts after he missed all of 2025 recovering from Tommy John surgery.
In 2024, Cole made five postseason starts for the Yankees, going 1-0 with a 2.17 ERA to pitch the team into the World Series for the first time since 2009. His next postseason start will be his first since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, which the Yankees lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers. For more MLB news, visit Newsweek Sports
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