Overview
- The Wild Card round opened Tuesday, Sept. 29, with four Game 1s staged at the higher seeds’ parks and all games televised on NBC/Peacock.
- The Yankees and Red Sox meet in the Bronx with Game 1 set as Cam Schlittler vs. Payton Tolle and Aaron Judge’s availability still undecided while he recovers from a right calf strain.
- Several teams leaned on bullpen plans or openers for their first games, with the Astros and White Sox planning bullpen starts and the Phillies using Jesús Luzardo in an opener after Zack Wheeler helped clinch their spot.
- Analysts largely favor clubs with deeper rotations and rested aces, pointing to the Yankees’ Schlittler-Fried-Cole trio as a decisive edge in a three-game series and noting Boston’s recent offensive woes and injury absences including Willson Contreras.
- The 12-team postseason sends winners from these short series into the Division Series, making single starts and bullpen decisions outsized factors that could quickly reshape the bracket and who advances.