For the second consecutive season and 26th time in the past 31 years, the New York Yankees are in the postseason. The Seattle Mariners will join them, as they make their sixth playoff appearance in franchise history.
The Yankees punched their ticket to the MLB playoffs with Tuesday’s win over the Chicago White Sox.
New York has now made the postseason seven times in eight seasons with Aaron Boone as manager. The club will be looking to get back to the World Series after losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games in last year’s Fall Classic.
Seattle punched its playoff ticket in thrilling fashion with a 4-3 comeback win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday. Its the second time in four years the Mariners are in the postseason after a 20-year drought from 2002 to ’21.
Projected NL Playoff Matchups (Based on Current Standings)
Projected AL Playoff Matchups (Based on Current Standings)
NL Wild Card (Top 3 Teams Make Playoffs)
*Denotes clinched playoff spot
The Yankees have endured a series of highs and lows throughout the 2025 campaign. This season started on a down note with Gerrit Cole undergoing Tommy John surgery in March, ending his 2025 campaign before it even started.
Aaron Judge was on a historic pace to start the year, hitting .342/.449/.711 with 37 homers through July 25.
A strained flexor tendon in his right elbow landed Judge on the injured list for 10 days. He has hit well upon returning, but it’s not quite at the Barry Bonds level he was at prior to the injury.
The top of New York’s roster is as strong as it has been in any season since Judge debuted. Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger turned back the clock to play at an All-Star level. Jazz Chisholm had a 30-30 season. Trent Grisham hit more homers in 2025 than he did in the previous two years combined.
Starting pitching figures to be a strength for the Yankees in October. Max Fried, who signed an eight-year, $218 million contract as a free agent last offseason, has slid into the role of the No. 1 starter with Cole out.
Carlos Rodón had his best season since signing with the Yankees in December 2022. Cam Schlittler is a very promising rookie who has posted a 3.27 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 66 innings.
This is still a flawed roster that has frequently made mistakes running the bases and is prone to defensive lapses that could come back to haunt them, as was the case in last year’s postseason, but the offensive ceiling is so high that the Yankees are a real threat to represent the AL in the World Series once again.
Both the Mariners and Yankees still have division titles in their sights. Seattle can clinch the AL West for the first time since 2001 as soon as Wednesday. A victory over the Rockies or a Houston Astros loss to the Athletics will settle the West.
The Yankees have climbed to within one game of the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East with five games left to play. Toronto does hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, so the Yankees would need to finish with a better record to win the division.
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