Add The New York Post on Google The Yankees hope to avoid playing in the opening round of the postseason, and the four games against the Rays a couple of weeks from now loom large as potential division-deciders.
And there is at least a chance that Trent Grisham, sidelined since Friday with a strained hamstring, heals quickly enough to become a factor early in October.
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But the most likely scenario is that when the AL wild-card round begins Sept. 29, in less than three weeks, the Yankees will face the Red Sox and confront a question about their own third outfielder.
Against one of those Boston lefties — maybe Ranger Suarez or Payton Tolle, for a team that is aware the Yankees handle righties better than lefties and thus loaded up on southpaws in the late August showdown in The Bronx — would the Yankees trust Heliot Ramos or Spencer Jones?
That is one of the many questions that could await manager Aaron Boone if September plays out as expected.
Ramos was acquired from the Giants precisely for the job, an established lefty killer who, since he has started seeing lefties with the Yankees, has killed them.
After turning his one at-bat Tuesday against Colorado lefty Brennan Bernardino into a three-run home run, Ramos entered play with a .979 OPS against lefties with the Yankees and an .875 OPS against such pitchers for the whole season.
Given a harsh spotlight in his first days after the trade deadline because he was playing every day against mostly righties for a club that didn’t have Aaron Judge or Cody Bellinger, Ramos is now mostly relegated to pinch-hit duties and starts against southpaws, a job with which he has excelled.
“I just want to help the team win. That’s my main thing,” said Ramos, who started all four of those games against the Red Sox last month, smacked his first Yankees homer and reached base eight times in 12 plate appearances in the series.
Heliot Ramos hits a three-run homer in the eighth inning of the Yankees’ win over the Rockies on Sept. 8, 2026 at the Stadium. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post Without Grisham, Boone said before Wednesday’s game against the Rockies that he expects Bellinger to see some time in center field.
Moving the typical left fielder over would open up left field for Ramos, who has not played well defensively with the Yankees, but the club believes he is better in the outfield than he has shown so far in limited opportunities.
So if the Yankees want to load up on righties against Boston lefties, they could trust Bellinger’s legs in center and Ramos’ bat in left.
Or they could decide that what they are seeing from Jones against southpaws is real.
Among many pleasant surprises in Jones’ game since he was recalled in late July is how well a striking and massive prospect has hit same-sided pitching.
There were doubts whether Jones, whose minor league strikeout rates have been well-documented, would ever make enough contact to be successful at the highest level, but he is proving himself in perhaps the most difficult fashion.
Against left-handed pitchers, Jones entered play with a 1.186 OPS that would easily be the best in baseball if he had logged enough at-bats.
The sample size was tiny — just 46 plate appearances — but Jones was hitting .415 with seven extra-base hits, including a pair of homers, against southpaws.
Boone has continually praised Jones’ adjustments as he tries to figure out all pitching and was particularly impressed by his left-on-left RBI double against Adrian Morejon last weekend in San Diego.
“[Jones is] just doing a really good job slowing the game down,” Boone said Sunday. “And another really good at-bat there against — that’s about as tough a left-on-left as you’re going to see.”
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Since Grisham went down, Jones has been the everyday center fielder, where his remarkable athleticism intrigues but his inexperience and spotty defensive reputation linger.
There is a reason the Yankees were playing Grisham, who has lost a step, over Jones at the position.
The Ramos-Jones decision against Boston would be curious — but of course, it’s one Boone hopes not to make.
— Additional reporting by Greg Joyce
