With Aaron Judge sidelined, Yankees' next generation takes over October

The Rays won Game 1 of the American League division series 1-0 on Saturday. Drew Rasmussen struck out 10 and held the Yankees to one hit, the fewest in their 447 postseason games. Teams that win Game 1 of a best-of-five series go on to win it about 73% of the time.

Monday night at Tropicana Field, the Yankees hand Game 2 to another one of their own picks. Cam Schlittler, a seventh-rounder out of Northeaster in 2022, led the AL with a 1.95 ERA. He went 14-6 and struck out 239 in 193⅔ innings. Only Spud Chandler in 1943 and Ron Guidry in 1978 posted a lower ERA for the Yankees as qualified starters.

Aaron Judge hasn't played since Sept. 16 because of a right calf strain . Without him, the Yankees have been winning with homegrown players. Ben Rice was a 12th-rounder out of Dartmouth in 2021. Spencer Jones went 25th overall out of Venderbilt in 2022, the same draft as Schlittler. Lombard went 26th overall out of Gulliver Prep in 2023.