The Yankees hope to avoid playing in the opening round of the postseason, and the four games against the Rays a couple of weeks from now loom large as potential division-deciders.
And there is at least a chance that Trent Grisham, sidelined since Friday with a strained hamstring, heals quickly enough to become a factor early in October.
But the most likely scenario is that when the AL wild-card round begins Sept. 29, in less than three weeks, the Yankees will face the Red Sox and confront a question about their own third outfielder.
Against one of those Boston lefties — maybe Ranger Suarez or Payton Tolle, for a team that is aware the Yankees handle righties better than lefties and thus loaded up on southpaws in the late August showdown in The Bronx — would the Yankees trust Heliot Ramos or Spencer Jones?
