The Yankees had to make do without Aaron Judge for all of June, July and August due to a stress fracture in his right first rib. With the days on the calendar dwindling and the AL East title still in play — which is no longer the case after the Rays clinched on Tuesday night — Judge bypassed a rehab assignment, but once he returned, he played in just seven games before landing back on the injured list due to a right calf strain. Both the slugger and the team took great pains to avoid discussing the injury’s specificity and timeline for recovery until Tuesday, when manager Aaron Boone revealed that Judge has a “moderate grade” strain, received a platelet-poor plasma injection, and isn’t expected to be available for the team’s Wild Card Series rematch against the Red Sox.
While deadline acquisition Heliot Ramos has heated up after a very slow start to his pinstriped career, the Yankees’ right field situation is one of the more glaring potential trouble spots among American League contenders. As the playoffs approach, teams no longer have a chance to upgrade from outside their organizations and instead must make do with the talent on hand. What follows here is a look at the most vulnerable teams at each position — something of a companion to my annual pre-deadline Replacement Level Killers series, with a focus on the teams that still have a chance to make the playoffs. For the AL, that means the Rays, Yankees, and Red Sox — all of whom have clinched spots — plus the Guardians, White Sox, Rangers, and Astros, who are battling for the other two division titles and the third Wild Card spot. I’ve taken the Blue Jays out of consideration, as their Playoff Odds now start with a zero in front of the decimal. While full-season performances play a significant part here, I’m more concerned with who’s worst now, with injuries and adjustments in mind. Each position has a headliner (or two, if it’s a job share), but at several positions, I’ve noted other teams with concerns. A companion National League piece will follow.
Catcher: Kyle Teel and Jake Rogers, White Sox
A Top 100 prospect in both 2024 and ’25, Kyle Teel did a very solid job as a rookie last season, hitting for a 125 wRC+ with 1.9 WAR in just 78 games, but he missed the first two months of this season due to a Grade 2 right hamstring strain and then an LCL sprain in his right knee. His replacements, mainly Edgar Quero (a three-time Top 100 prospect) and Drew Romo, struggled so mightily that they headed the catchers’ section on my Replacement Level Killers list, with Quero optioned to Triple-A Charlotte once Teel returned. While Teel’s defense has been an upgrade, he’s hit just .178/.302/.318 (81 wRC+) with an astronomical 37.3% strikeout rate, up from last year’s 25.9%, and his average exit velocity is just 84.5 mph, down from last year’s 88.3 mph. He recently missed time with a left ankle sprain as well.
Romo was optioned to Charlotte in early September during a shuffle that included both Teel’s return and the arrival of the 31-year-old Jake Rogers via the waiver wire. Rogers, who began the year with the Tigers, was traded to the Orioles in late July, then flipped to the Red Sox in the Adley Rutschman trade on August 3 before being sent on his merry way again within a fortnight. He’s now playing for his fourth team this season and has hit just .161/.276/.287 (62 wRC+). All told, White Sox catchers have combined for a 54 wRC+ and -0.4 WAR, both of which rank 29th in the majors; for as much long-term potential as the 24-year-old Teel and 23-year-old Quero (who has played sparingly since being recalled) may have, they’re less than ideal right now.
It’s worth noting that Rutschman, who was on the injured list due to left wrist inflammation when he was sent to Boston as part of a seven-player blockbuster, has struggled to the point that he’s a concern as well. The 28-year-old switch-hitter was batting a solid .251/.331/.433 (116 wRC+) before being sidelined for three weeks — his third IL stint this season, with shorter ones for left ankle inflammation and a concussion while with Baltimore — but he’s hit just .214/.270/.398 (82 wRC+) in 111 plate appearances since being activated. His strikeout rate has spiked from 14.1% to 21.6%, and his average exit velo has fallen by about two ticks. Backup Connor Wong has hit a similarly light .234/.310/.346 (84 wRC+), albeit with dreadful defense (-10 FRV, -8 DRS, -6.6 FRM). The good news is that Rutschman went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles on Tuesday night against the Guardians; the bad news is that the Red Sox have other injury concerns in their lineup as well.
First Base: Nathaniel Lowe and David Fry, Guardians
Guardians first basemen made my Killers list due to the light production of their platoon of Kyle Manzardo and Rhys Hoskins. At the deadline, they dealt for Nathaniel Lowe and optioned Manzardo to Triple-A Columbus. A couple of week later, they placed Hoskins on the IL due to lower back inflammation and turned to David Fry, a utilityman who can catch. Alas, after getting a 94 wRC+ from their first basemen prior to the deadline, they’ve managed just a 90 wRC+ since. The lefty-swinging Lowe, who hit a robust .266/.341/.480 (123 wRC+) for the Reds, has dipped to .228/.279/.390 (83 wRC+) while hitting a ton of popups. The righty-swinging Fry has done well in his limited duty at first base, but has hit just .192/.312/.349 (90 wRC+) in 202 plate appearances overall.
Hoskins began a swing progression nearly two weeks ago, but with Columbus’ season having ended, a rehab assignment isn’t an option, which doesn’t bode well for an uptick from his .179/.306/.376 (95 wRC+) line. Manzardo (.215/.306/.378, 95 wRC+) didn’t hit the ball as hard at Columbus as he had either in his previous stops there or in Cleveland, and there hasn’t been any buzz about bringing him back in September or October.
Meanwhile in Boston, Willson Contreras has been the team’s top hitter, batting a potent .276/.387/.518 (152 wRC+) with 27 homers, but he’s been limited to four games this month between a left hamstring strain and a hit-by-pitch induced bruised knuckle on his right hand. Fortunately, he avoided a fracture, and returned to swinging a bat on September 20; the Red Sox hope to get him into the lineup before the end of the regular season, but the situation bears monitoring. Mickey Gasper and Nick Sogard have shared duties during his absence. Both have provided above-average production overall; Gasper had been in a 4-for-32 slump before hitting a pinch-homer — his 10th long ball in 218 plate appearances — against the Guardians on Tuesday night.
Second Base: Jose Altuve, Astros
Jose Altuve may wind up in Cooperstown some day, but Father Time has caught up to the diminutive 36-year-old. He’s batting just .250/.308/.402, which has taken a bite out of both the Astros’ offense and his chances at reaching 3,000 hits; his 99 wRC+ is his lowest full-season mark since 2013, while his .327 xSLG is a 57-point drop from last season and a Statcast-era low. What’s more, his defense has reached its nadir, with both his -10 FRV and -16 DRS rating not only as career worsts but also major league worsts at his position. With Yordan Alvarez entrenched at designated hitter and too valuable to risk in left field — he hasn’t used his glove in a postseason game since 2023 — there’s no place to hide Altuve, but also little likelihood he’ll be benched in favor of backup Nick Allen (.271/.318/.371, 95 wRC+).
On the injury front, keep an eye on the return of the Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr., who was activated between games of Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Rays after missing 12 games due to a sprained right thumb. While his offense has dipped from a 125 wRC+ last year to 100 (.233/.313/.403) this year, Chisholm’s 3.4 WAR ranks third among the team’s position players behind Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger, and his total of 19 home runs ranks second. Backups Anthony Volpe (.244/.321/.335, 88 wRC+) and José Caballero (.236/.293/.373, 86 wRC+) are substantial steps down, but if Chisholm has any lingering issues, one of them may be needed to fill in.
Third Base: Ryan McMahon and Amed Rosario, Yankees
Yankees third basemen have combined for -0.1 WAR, the majors’ third-lowest mark. Lefty-swinging Ryan McMahon bears the bulk of the responsibility for that, hitting just .206/.274/.341 (73 wRC+) while playing solid defense. Righty-swinging Amed Rosario has produced a 100 wRC+ while playing third but has hit just .233/.275/.406 (87 wRC+) overall, and he’s been lousy at the hot corner, with -6 DRS and -6 FRV in just 309.1 innings. The righty-swinging Caballero is at least a better defender than Rosario and about on par offensively, and he’s one of the league’s top base thieves, with 34 steals in 45 attempts. He has also out-produced Rosario against lefties, with an 81 wRC+ to Rosario’s 63 — which could be a factor given that the Red Sox can call upon lefties Ranger Suarez and Payton Tolle to start during the Wild Card Series.
Shortstop: Taylor Walls, Rays
For the third year in a row, the defensive metrics have been very split with regards to Taylor Walls. His 21 DRS leads all shortstops (nobody else has more than 10 DRS), but his -2 FRV ranks 23rd out of 30 with at least 500 innings at the position. Between the latter mark and his dismal .222/.308/.294 (73 wRC+) line, he’s produced just 0.7 WAR. That said, neither Jorge Mateo (.205/.250/.318, 55 wRC+) nor Ben Williamson (.244/.304/.327, 79 wRC+), his occasional fill-ins, hits well enough to merit surpassing Wells on the depth chart.
Left Field: Taylor Trammell and LaMonte Wade Jr., Astros
The Astros’ current 1.3 WAR from their left fielders ranks 17th in the majors, ahead of both the Guardians (1.2) and Red Sox (0.8). But between Steven Kwan’s second-half heater and Roman Anthony’s return from a torn tendon in his right ring finger, both of those teams are now in a better spot than Houston. Taylor Trammell made several Top 100 lists as a prospect — he was as high as no. 12 as a 60-FV on our 2019 list — but he’s now 29 and has netted 0.1 WAR in 273 major league games for four different teams. This year he’s hit .200/.292/.355 (84 wRC+) in a career-high 95 games spread across the three outfield positions, with a 95 wRC+ in 237 plate appearances against righties and a 19 wRC+ (ouch) in 41 plate appearances against lefties.
LaMonte Wade Jr., a reliable contributor for the Giants from 2021–24, bottomed out to a 53 wRC+ last year in a season split between San Francisco and Anaheim. He spent the first few months of this season in the White Sox organization but was released on June 1 so he could sign with the Astros, for whom he’s hit .208/.308/.352 (90 wRC+). He’s been protected from facing many lefties and has seen his playing time dry up otherwise, as he’s been in a slump since mid-August. Meanwhile, righty-swinging Nelson Velázquez hasn’t made a very strong case for himself by hitting .192/.255/.414 (81 wRC+) with a 33.6% strikeout rate in 110 plate appearances split between the Cardinals and Astros. With options like these, you can see why playing Alvarez in left and DHing Altuve starts to make some sense.
Center Field: Daulton Varsho, Astros
The first-half struggles of Jake Meyers, Brice Matthews and Trammell landed the Astros on the Killers center field list, so they quite reasonably dealt for Daulton Varsho on August 3. The 30-year-old flychaser was hitting .243/.307/.375 (91 wRC+), and while his once-elite defense has regressed towards average, a performance like that is still good enough to carry the position. He looked like a decent upgrade for Houston, but while his defense has remained solid enough, he’s hit an anemic .172/.224/.311 (48 wRC+), with his strikeout and walk rates both moving in the wrong direction.
A closer look shows that Varsho has actually been hitting the ball slightly harder since the trade, but all season, he’s been producing popups and cans of corn galore because he’s getting under so many pitches. The real fall-off is relative to last year; his pulled air rate has fallen from 29.5% to 18.5%, while his xSLG has dropped from .464 to .354. As with Altuve and the left field situation, the Astros don’t have great alternatives. Matthews, a 24-year-old rookie, has hit just .201/.255/.332 (64 wRC+), and Meyers sustained a season-ending left kneecap injury at Triple-A Sugar Land last week.
Yet another injury-related note for the Red Sox: Ceddanne Rafaela was sidelined nearly three weeks ago due to a right quad strain. Prior to that, he was putting the finishing touches on a breakout season, having hit .282/.317/.443 (108 wRC+) with 16 homers and 17 steals while playing Gold Glove-caliber defense in center field. Less than a week after he went down, his capable fill-in Eli White suffered a ligament injury in his right foot, requiring season-ending surgery. Since then, Jarren Duran and Nate Eaton have shared the position. Rafaela has yet to return to the roster, though manager Chad Tracy said he’s “getting close.” If he does suffer a setback, continuing to play Duran during what’s been an awful season (.204/.261/.362, 68 wRC+) would obviously be less than ideal.
The Yankees’ Trent Grisham was sidelined by a Grade 2 strain of his right hamstring around the same time that Rafaela went down, and he has yet to return as well. His performance has fallen off drastically after a career year; he’s hit just .211/.308/.395 (98 wRC+) with 18 homers while trading some power for contact, and his defense has also been rough (-5 FRV and -8 DRS in 961.1 innings). While Boone has said he could be “in play at some point” during the postseason, there’s little urgency. Rookie Spencer Jones has shifted over from right field and done an impressive job of holding down the fort, playing adequate defense while hitting .246/.316/.435 (110 wRC+) despite a 36.2% strikeout rate.
Right Field: Heliot Ramos and Aaron Judge, Yankees
Yes, that looks weird in print, but for the moment at least, it’s a reality for the Yankees. The 27-year-old Ramos hit a modest .264/.304/.424 (100 wRC+) with nine homers and 0.6 WAR for the Giants before being traded to the Yankees on August 3. He began his time in pinstripes by going 5-for-47, and at one point went 32 games between homers — from July 20 to August 29 — while slugging .204. He’s heated up since then, but his .168/.294/.356 (85 wRC+) line with the Yankees doesn’t give anyone much confidence he can replace even the banged-up version of Judge the Yankees have received in his 66 games this season (.241/.360/.511, 141 wRC+).
In terms of concerns about sheer replacement-level production, the White Sox stand out here. Early in the season, the team tried Everson Pereira, Jarred Kelenic, and Rikuu Nishida as their regular at the position, but none got the job done. On June 9 they called up Braden Montgomery, a switch-hitting 23-year-old who placed 100th on our Top 100 as a 50-FV prospect in the spring. He collected two hits in his debut that night against the Braves, capped by a walk-off homer, but it’s been mostly downhill since then, as he’s hit .212/.305/.340 (84 wRC+) with six homers and 0.5 WAR in 88 games. While he’s hit .248/.344/.385 (110 wRC+) in 250 plate appearances against righties, he’s flailed away at a .125/.204/.2227 clip in 98 plate appearances against lefties. With resurgent lefty-masher Randal Grichuk on the roster and hitting .331/.372/.650 (182 wRC+) in 172 plate appearances against lefties, there’s no reason that should be happening.
Designated Hitter: Andrew Benintendi, White Sox
No remaining AL contender ranks below 15th in the majors in wRC+ provided by their DHs, and the two lowest teams from among that subset, the Red Sox and Guardians, are respectively third and fourth in second-half wRC+ from that spot while using revolving casts of players. So I’m picking (on) Andrew Benintendi, who has hit a very modest .243/.302/.414 (98 wRC+) while starting at DH in 105 games, with Grichuk (19) the only other Chicago player in double digits. There’s nothing particularly terrible or mysterious about Benintendi’s performance, which beyond a September slump, has lined up with his expected stats quite well; he’s got 21st-percentile bat speed but a 66th-percentile squared-up rate and a 77th-percentile hard-hit rate. He doesn’t hit lefties (.227/.261/.250, 44 wRC+ in 47 PA this year), so manager Will Venable has either used Grichuk or one of his righty regulars there. For as impressive as the White Sox’s turnaround from three straight 100-loss seasons has been, you can see from this roundup that the team’s weaknesses have come to the fore as they’ve tried to sew up a playoff berth.
