Colorado Rockies at New York Yankees

New York hands the ball to Max Fried for the getaway-day finale on Thursday, September 10, with Colorado countering with Ryan Feltner. On paper it reads like a mismatch — a $218 million lefty against a Rockies rotation that's been stripped down by injury all year — but neither arm is walking in fully steady.

Fried has been sharp when he's actually on the mound, but he's already made two separate trips to the injured list this year for a recurring left elbow issue, and he's returned from the more recent one on a pitch-count leash. Aaron Judge, meanwhile, is finally taking live batting practice and running the bases again, and manager Aaron Boone has floated an activation sometime during this homestand — but Judge himself says he still needs multiple live at-bats first, and reporting has circled the Mets series that follows this one as the more realistic target. That gap between the buzz around Judge and the actual clearance timeline is worth watching as the market shapes up.

Colorado, for its part, isn't hiding what September is for. With the season long buried, the Rockies are using these final weeks to get eyes on young talent — infielder Adael Amador among the names getting a call-up look after a scorching stretch at Triple-A — while a battered pitching staff plays out the string around him.

Both clubs enter the week having dropped their most recent game — Colorado fell 10-8 in a shootout, New York 4-3 — so neither side is arriving with a head of steam. The two games at Yankee Stadium that precede this one will do a lot to shape what Thursday actually looks like: bullpen usage, who's fresh, and whether Colorado's kids have forced their way into more at-bats by the time this one starts.

The injury sheets tell most of the story here. Colorado is already missing Kyle Freeland, Jose Quintana and Chase Dollander from the rotation, on top of a bullpen that lost Welinton Herrera for the year to a torn UCL. New York's is thinner than the standings suggest too — Fernando Cruz is done for the season with his own UCL tear, and Trent Grisham's hamstring strain has real doubt about whether he plays again in 2026. New York still holds the top AL Wild Card spot, a few games clear of Boston, while chasing Tampa Bay in the East — which is the actual stakes picture for a Yankees team that can't afford to treat a series against the league's worst record as a freebie.

More Stories