Major League Baseball

AL wild-card game: The Yankees and Red Sox every baseball fan can root for

Published Oct. 5, 2021 11:11 a.m. ET

By Jordan Shusterman
FOX Sports MLB Writer

The Red Sox and Yankees are about to play a winner-take-all game in October. That is undeniably a gigantic deal and a very exciting moment for the sport of baseball.

But the truth is, no matter how historic these teams are, the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry can also get particularly exhausting for the 28 other fan bases. It just seems to always be about them. That’s not to say they don’t warrant the extra attention. After all, these teams have great histories, great players and a boatload of supporters all across the country.

That being said, we see these teams so often in October (albeit often separately) that when they clash and the matchup is billed as the GAME/SERIES OF THE CENTURY, it can be a mildly unbearable experience for the average neutral fan.

However, as someone who gets similarly exhausted by The Rivalry, I am here to tell you that there are still plenty of players on these teams worth rooting for. These are not guys you have had to watch on national TV multiple times a year for a decade, like Derek Jeter or David Ortiz or Brett Gardner or Dustin Pedroia. These are players who just so happen to be on the teams that so many fans happen to dislike because sports are kind of weird.

I urge you not to allow their uniforms to dampen your ability to enjoy these players and, instead, embrace their continued presence in our baseball fandom in 2021 — for at least one more game.

For more up-to-date news on all things MLB, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

Nestor Cortes Jr.

The mastermind behind the Yankees’ newfound reptilian cult hero, Bronxie the Turtle, Cortes has been far more than just an eager pet owner for this team in 2021. He has been one of New York’s most reliable starters since joining the rotation in late July, mastering the Crafty Lefty motif with the requisite funk and deception.

My favorite thing about Cortes is how he has always managed to find his way back to New York, even when his career didn't seem to be going anywhere. It all started when he was drafted by the Yankees in the 36th round in 2013. The Baltimore Orioles selected him in the Rule 5 Draft in December 2017 but gave him only 4.2 innings of work before returning him to the Yankees.

He was somewhat competent for New York in 2019, but then he was traded to the Seattle Mariners for international bonus money and proceeded to post a 15.26 ERA (!) in 7.2 IPs in 2020. There was nothing to suggest that Cortes was on the verge of any sort of breakout.

And yet, the Yankees signed him as a free agent this past off-season. Now here he is, with an ERA under 3.00, one of the most beloved players on the team. I’m not sure he'll appear in Tuesday’s game, considering that he has been starting for a few months now and might not be best deployed out of the bullpen. But at this point, anything seems possible for this mustachioed man.

Rafael Devers

The hero of Boston’s Game 162, Devers is hardly an unknown quantity at this point, but I still want to highlight him because of one particular quirk: his hilarious array of reactions in the batter's box. We all know about Juan Soto’s trademark shuffle when he takes a ball. Devers displays a much wider variety of real-life emojis depending on the sequence of the at-bat, from laughing at an unexpected pitch to self-scolding when he misses a hittable fastball to huge deep breaths to calm himself down.

Quite frankly, it is impossible to take your eyes off of Devers when he’s at the dish.

Devers' joy for the game — and hitting in particular — is infectious. Whatever he’s doing at the plate, it’s almost guaranteed to make you smile. Unless, of course, you’re an opposing pitcher tasked with facing his vicious hacks.

For more up-to-date news on all things Red Sox, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton

Over the final weekend of the regular season, Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Oneil Cruz made his much-anticipated debut. You should know the name Oneil Cruz. He might be a very big deal, and that’s because he’s a 6-foot-7 shortstop, and he hit a ball 118.2 mph on Saturday.

This is significant because he immediately hit a ball harder than any other Pirate had in the Statcast Era (since 2015). But OK, why am I talking about this? (The Pirates aren’t in the wild-card game!) I'm using this piece of data to illustrate the absurd reality that is Judge and Stanton being on the same baseball team at the same time.

Hitting a ball 118-plus mph is rare. Very few players are capable of that. Since the start of 2015, there have been 80 batted balls in the regular season with an exit velocity of 118 or greater (including Cruz's). That’s it! In seven seasons of baseballs put in play!

There's more. Stanton has 42 of those batted balls. Judge has 13. No one else has more than three. Think about that.

Now, in this case, I am not asking you to enjoy the fact that these two guys are on the same team, the team many fans despise. But I am suggesting that you appreciate getting to watch these players for at least one more game this season. Because they are in an entirely different stratosphere of raw power than every other player on earth, and they are on the same team, at the same time. And one of them might just hit a baseball to Maine.

To stay up to date on all things Yankees, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

Garrett Whitlock

There is no shortage of famous players who played for both the Red Sox and the Yankees. And while it might be a little premature to label Whitlock the next great one, it’s pretty wild that the Red Sox selected him from the Yankees in last winter’s Rule 5 Draft, and then he turned out to be arguably Boston’s most valuable pitcher this season as a multi-inning relief weapon. Granted, he never appeared in the big leagues for the Yankees, but that arguably makes the story even better.

The Yankees deemed Whitlock unworthy of being added to the 40-man roster, thus leaving him unprotected from being claimed by another team. The Red Sox pounced on the opportunity to add the talented right-hander and have clearly been rewarded for it. Whitlock just returned from the injured list in time for the postseason, and it's almost certain that he’ll appear at some point Tuesday. Don’t be surprised if he gets some AL Rookie of the Year votes, too.

Jonathan Loáisiga

The 26-year-old right-hander has officially graduated from being The Guy People Call Jonny Lasagna to being one of the best relievers in baseball. He ranked fourth among all bullpen arms in fWAR in the regular season, and his fastball features both eye-popping velocity and movement.

Through all the injuries — Loáisiga missed more than three full seasons due to arm trouble, barely pitched in the minors and still managed to make his MLB debut before turning 24 — talent has won out, and now Loáisiga is thriving on the biggest stage.

Jordan Shusterman is half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball analyst for FOX Sports. He lives in D.C. but is a huge Seattle Mariners fan and loves watching the KBO, which means he doesn't get a lot of sleep. You can follow him on Twitter @j_shusterman_.