The absences run deeper than the pitching. Aaron Judge hasn't played since May and still has no firm return path, and Giancarlo Stanton has "no timeline" for even a rehab assignment, per manager Aaron Boone — that's two middle-of-the-order bats New York has had to replace on the fly. Pittsburgh's list is arguably worse: Oneil Cruz and Konnor Griffin are both on the 60-day IL, and Endy Rodriguez and Spencer Horwitz are out too, yet the Pirates still rank among the league's best offenses by OPS this season.
That last part is the real story here. At 52-49, Pittsburgh is sitting in a National League Wild Card spot for the first time since 2015, and with the August 3 trade deadline bearing down, the front office is reportedly looking to add without ballooning payroll. The Yankees, meanwhile, are dealing with their own version of decision season — Chisholm has had to publicly bat down trade rumors even while he's the hottest hand in the lineup. None of that gets settled Wednesday, but it's the backdrop for why both sides want this makeup game more than a typical July getaway-day tilt.
First pitch for the nightcap is 7:05 PM ET, capping a stretch where these two teams have now played parts of three straight days against each other. Whoever's turn it is out of the bullpen, expect both managers to be quick with the hook — nobody wants to burn out an arm on a scheduling quirk in the middle of a playoff race.