Who will the New York Yankees face in the MLB Playoffs? Analyzing roster, matchups and more

They had their share of ups and downs throughout the 2024 campaign, but with a series against the Baltimore Orioles looming, the New York Yankees have a chance to clinch the AL East. In fact, with a win on Tuesday, the division will be won, as their magic number beginning play is set at just one.

This Yankees team has as many stars as any, with Gerrit Cole leading a very formidable rotation when it's at its best, and the ridiculous duo of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge hitting back-to-back in the lineup. Any series that has Cole pitching multiple times and has Soto and Judge at their best makes the Yankees really difficult to beat.

Assuming the Yankees do win one more game this season and clinch the AL East, at least much, if not the entire AL side of the postseason will run through Yankee Stadium in front of one of the loudest and most passionate fan bases in all of baseball.

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New York Yankees postseason rotation and lineup projections

Even with Cole missing substantial time this season due to injury, New York still ranks seventh in the majors with a 3.77 ERA. Luis Gil has emerged as a legitimate AL Rookie of the Year contender, and they've gotten a fully healthy (albeit inconsistent) season out of Carlos Rodon. Another thing that the Yankees have that other teams don't is quality depth. They have six legitimate options to fit into what will likely be a three-man rotation in the ALDS and a four-man rotation in the ALCS.

The most surprising insertion in this projection is having Clarke Schmidt in over the likes of Nestor Cortes Jr. and Marcus Stroman. Schmidt has been limited to just 14 starts this season but has a 2.37 ERA in those starts and has pitched extremely well since returning from his long IL stint, allowing just three earned runs in three starts. Having veterans like Stroman and Cortes looming is a nice luxury to have, but Schmidt has pitched well enough to start a postseason game.

The rotation is solid, but the lineup is what really gets the opposition nervous.

Judge and Soto steal the show, obviously, but this Yankees lineup is incredibly deep now, which was not the story earlier this season. Gleyber Torres has been a great fit out of the leadoff spot, and the same can be said about Austin Wells hitting behind Judge. Jazz Chisholm Jr. has been great as a Yankee, Giancarlo Stanton is always a threat when healthy, and Jasson Dominguez can add a major spark if he gets hot. This lineup has two of the best players on the planet but also a lot more depth than most give them credit for.

MLB Playoff Bracket: Who could the Yankees face in the postseason?

Not only are the Yankees on the verge of winning the division, but they also currently hold the No. 1 seed in the AL. They're 2.5 games ahead of the No. 2-seeded Cleveland Guardians and also have a game in hand. It's very likely that they're going to have home-field advantage for every round that they play in the postseason up until and potentially even including the World Series if they can get that far. The Yankees would also earn a bye thanks to the team having clinched one of the top two seeds in the AL (assuming they win the AL East).

The fact that the Yankees are almost certainly going to secure a bye and begin their postseason run in the ALDS, it's impossible to predict who they will face. They realistically can face any of the teams that advance from the Wild Card Series. If the season ended as of this writing, the teams that would participate in the Wild Card Series include the Houston Astros, Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, and Kansas City Royals.

Based on regular season success alone, the Yankees would prefer a series against the Astros, but there are a couple of things to consider. The Yankees dominated them early in the season when Houston was playing extremely poorly, and the Astros have had tons of postseason success, particularly against New York. Despite the successful regular season, the Yankees would likely prefer to play anyone on this list.

The Orioles have had the most success against the Yankees among these teams but New York can still win the season series by sweeping Baltimore, and the Orioles have played poor baseball down the stretch, allowing the Yankees to run away with the AL East to begin with.