What do the Yankees need to see in the last week?

With that being said, the Yankees will be playing in the postseason one way or another, and they've got plenty to fine tune before they face their first opponent. So what should we keep our eyes on as they play out these final seven games, and what will the team be looking out for?

New York has their rotation lined up for this Rays series, with all of their potential playoff starters getting a game: Carlos Rodon and Max Fried will handle the doubleheader, Gerrit Cole is being tasked with Wednesday's game, and Cam Schlittler will toe the slab in the series finale. With Will Warren probably starting the opening game of the Baltimore series, that leaves only two more games to cover before the postseason rotation needs to be lined up for next Tuesday. That means that this will be Cole and Schlittler's final tune up before the regular season ends, and likely Fried's as well considering he'd have too quick a turnaround for Game 2 of the Wild Card Round where he's expected to slot in. For Cole this is the chance to make sure he's got the gopher ball under control and instill confidence that the home runs won't be flying out of the park in a potential elimination game, while for Schlittler this is the final act of a Cy Young campaign and he'll be looking to end it on a high note. In Fried's case, he threw 88 pitches in his previous outing which was the most he's tossed since his most recent IL stint, and this last go around gives him the chance to push it beyond 90 pitches assuming he can get in a rhythm.

Turning our attention over to the lineup, this is make or break time for some of the bats looking to be penciled in for Game 1. The Yankees' likely opponent in the Wild Card Round is Boston , and their lefty-heavy rotation is going to stress-test their lineup. The team's best hitter since the Deadline has been their big get in Luis Garcia Jr. , but he's a platoon bat that hasn't seen the field much against lefties. Aaron Boone could use this final week to look for the right spots where Garcia could pinch-hit in the games where he doesn't start, because it'll be hard to go a full nine innings without him having some kind of impact on the game if the Yankees want to go far.