Yankees: Predicting the starting lineup and 25-man roster for Wild Card game

After a very successful 100-62 regular season the real season for the 2018 Yankees starts Wednesday night from the Bronx in the AL Wild Card game against the Oakland A’s. Who will get the start? Who will make the 25-man roster? I’ll answer these questions and more with my predictions below.

Luis Severino will get the start

Who will start the Wild Card game for the Yankees has been the number one topic of discussion surrounding the Yankees for the last month. Between Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ and Luis Severino you could make a strong case for any one of them to start. I would go with either Happ or Tanaka because they’ve been the Yankees top two starters in the second half, but I think Severino will get the nod.

Sevy struggled for the majority of the second half but he finished strong over his final three starts of the season pitching to a 2.03 ERA with 18 K’s. That has the Yankees believing he’s back to his pre-All-Star form when he was their ace and a leading candidate for the AL Cy Young award. Sevy has the best stuff of any starter in the Yankees rotation which could give him the best chance to dominate the A’s right-handed heavy lineup.

Happ or Tanaka would be safer choices but Sevy provides the most upside so it would be hard to keep him on the bench with the season on the line. Another factor is that Happ has been excellent throughout his career against the Red Sox, the Yankees potential opponent should they advance to the ALDS. And although the Yankees say they aren’t looking ahead you know they’d love to have Happ start Game 1 in Boston on Friday with Tanaka following him for Game 2.

Greg Bird, Tommy Kahnle, and AJ Cole won’t make the roster

Projected Bench:

Austin Romine, Adeiny Hechavarria, Neil Walker and Brett Gardner

Now that Luke Voit has taken over as the everyday first basemen there’s really no need for Greg Bird on the playoff roster no matter how far the Yankees advance. With Neil Walker’s ability to play all over the infield he can serve as the backup to Voit and as a pinch hitter off the bench.

Brett Gardner lost his starting job to Andrew McCutchen but he could still provide a lot off the bench as a late game pinch runner or defensive replacement. The same goes for Adeiny Hechavarria who could be used as a defensive upgrade for Miguel Andujar at third if the Yankees have a late lead. Austin Romine rounds out the bench backing up Sanchez.

Projected Bullpen:

1. LHP J.A. Happ
2. RHP Masahiro Tanaka
3. RHP Lance Lynn
4. RHP Sonny Gray
5. LHP Stephen Tarpley
6. RHP Jonathan Holder
7. RHP Chad Green
8. RHP Dellin Betances
9. RHP David Robertson
10. LHP Zach Britton
11. LHP Aroldis Chapman

With the Wild Card game’s single elimination format, it will be all hands on deck for the Yankee bullpen Wednesday night. That means we could see guys who usually start games enter in relief. Should Sevy falter as much as he did in last year’s Wild Card game we could see Tanaka or Happ enter the game early to give the team some length.

However, since there is no tomorrow guaranteed for the Yanks they could opt to use all their high leverage guys in relief of Sevy regardless of how deep he pitches into the game. We could see Green, D-Rob, Betances, Chapman, and Britton combine to pitch as many as six innings if that’s the route Boone wants to go. Although you run the risk of one or two of them not having their best stuff which is something we’ve seen haunt the Yankees at times this season.

One name to keep an eye on throughout the game is rookie Stephen Tarpley who is likely going to be on the roster after he really impressed the coaching staff to finish off his season. Tarpley is a lefty specialist who held left-handed hitters to a .067 AVG in September. He could be a nice weapon to have come in and face A’s lefty slugger Matt Olson.

As for AJ Cole and 2017 postseason hero Tommy Kahnle they just haven’t pitched well at all in the second half and don’t deserve a spot on any playoff roster.

No surprises in the starting lineup

Projected lineup:

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The Yankees finally got back to full strength during the last two weeks of the regular season so there shouldn’t be any surprises in Aaron Boone’s lineup tomorrow night. The only real question was whether Austin Romine would get the nod over Gary Sanchez but last week Boone and GM Brian Cashman put to rest any thoughts of benching Sanchez.

The A’s have yet to announce a starter but signs point to them using an opener such as right-hander reliever Liam Hendriks. The Yankees can expect a heavy dose of power rightie arms throughout the night to neutralize their right-handed heavy lineup, but no matter who the A’s bring in it won’t be an easy task against their powerhouse offense.

This is the same group of players the Yankees went with for Friday night’s win against Boston but because the Red Sox started a lefty Didi batted sixth with Voit batting fifth. Boone likes to flip-flop his righties and lefties, especially against right-handed pitchers so expect to see Stanton slotted in between Hicks and Didi.

On paper, this is the most complete lineup the Yankees will put on the field all season and certainly the most dangerous. There are no holes 1-9 because the bottom of the order can be just as dangerous as the top. This is the lineup that gives them the best chance to beat the A’s and if they can move on expect to see this exact group for the remainder of their postseason run.