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Yankees vs. Red Sox: Who has the edge at each position?

By Rucker Haringey

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 03: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees celebrates after scoring a run off of a double hit by Aaron Hicks #31 during the sixth inning against the Oakland Athletics in the American League Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium on October 03, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 03: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees celebrates after scoring a run off of a double hit by Aaron Hicks #31 during the sixth inning against the Oakland Athletics in the American League Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium on October 03, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 03: Aroldis Chapman #54 of the New York Yankees throws a pitch against the Oakland Athletics during the ninth inning in the American League Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium on October 03, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 03: Aroldis Chapman #54 of the New York Yankees throws a pitch against the Oakland Athletics during the ninth inning in the American League Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium on October 03, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

The Bullpen

The fact that Aroldis Chapman looked like himself in the ninth inning against the Athletics was a huge boost for the Yankees’ bullpen. Now they can comfortably slot their Cuban star as their closer against the Red Sox.

Boston has a really good closer as well. Craig Kimbrel doesn’t carry quite the same aura that Chapman exudes, but he struck out 96 hitters in just over 62 innings pitched this season. His stuff is legit. The Yankees do not want to face him in the ninth inning in a situation where they must score to survive.

Chapman has the slight edge in terms of closer value, but any difference is pretty negligible. That means this matchup comes down to the rest of each respective bullpen. That’s where Boone’s depth really starts to show up.

Next. Yankees started Severino against Oakland to solidify their future. dark

Having Dellin Betances, Zach Britton and David Robertson to rely on gives the Yankees a lot of quality options down the stretch. Joe Kelly, Matt Barnes and Heath Hembree just can’t match that quality for Boston. That’s why New York gets the nod here by a pretty comfortable margin. Boone would love to see this series decided by arms in the bullpen.

Advantage: Yankees

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