Judge Is Out for the Wild-Card Round. Here's What New York Actually Has.

Aaron Judge has been ruled out for the wild-card series, which makes official what the injury picture has suggested for a while. He's on the 10-day IL, not the 60-day, so there's a path back if the Yankees advance — but for the first round, they go without him.

What they have instead: Ben Rice, the All-Star, who has been their most consistent power source with 18 home runs in 71 games. Cody Bellinger and Spencer Jones fill out an outfield that can get on base but doesn't scare anyone the way Judge does. Giancarlo Stanton is in the lineup. The offense is functional. It is not what it was when Judge was posting a 1.021 OPS across his 40 games this season — that kind of production doesn't get covered by committee.

On the mound, Cam Schlittler goes into October at 17-6 with a 1.85 ERA, which is as good a wild-card ace as anyone in the bracket. Max Fried and Gerrit Cole are available behind him. The rotation can win a short series. The concern, as it has been all year, is the late innings: this team is 16-26 in one-run games, and wild-card baseball is almost entirely one-run games.

So that's the picture. Judge out, Schlittler ready, bullpen thin, clutch record ugly. The Yankees have enough to win a series. They also have enough holes to lose one in three games. Both things are true going into October.