The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees start a best-of-three Wild Card Series on Tuesday, and Joey Votto is picking the Red Sox.
The Yankees posted a hype video on X, captioning it, "One Team. One City. One Goal. This is the Postseason." Votto replied to the post with a jab at the team, writing, "One Round. Sox in 3."
Votto played 17 seasons in the big leagues, winning an MVP Award, a Gold Glove and earning six All-Star Game selections. He received MVP votes in nine separate seasons and was top three in MVP voting three times. He only ever appeared in games for the Cincinnati Reds, so there is no real reason for him to hate the Yankees, but he is making it clear who he is siding with in the Wild Card round.
The Yankees are not messing around and are throwing Cam Schlittler out there in Game 1. The Red Sox will have their own young starter on the mound in Payton Tolle. Tolle and Schlittler have the potential to be star pitchers for years to come and could be the faces of this rivalry in the future.
Game 2 will feature Max Fried and Sonny Gray on the mound. If there is a Game 3, it will be Gerrit Cole vs. Ranger Suarez. There is no shortage of star pitchers in this series, and winning Game 1 is very important. The Yankees have the advantage in Game 1 with Schlittler on the mound, but there are still some questions about their lineup.
Will Aaron Judge play? Is Giancarlo Stanton healthy enough to be on the roster? Who will play second base? All of these questions will be answered by game time, but until then, fans have to wait in anticipation for a postseason matchup between two rivals.