The Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees are currently kicking off the final game of the season, with the AL Wild Card on the line. The Rays are tied with the Red Sox for the Wild Card lead, so they need to win tonight in guarantee that their season will continue one more day. And that job just got a little easier, as Alex Rodriguez got scratched from the game with a lingering knee injury.
Since the Yankees have already clinched a playoff spot and home field advantage in the playoffs, they have very little to play for tonight. As such, Joe Girardi is sending rookie Dellin Betances to the mound instead of any of his regular starters, although he is starting the vast majority of his regular position players. But if Rodriguez is feeling less than 100%, there’s no reason for them to run him out there in a relatively meaningless game.
This injury has bothered Rodriguez off and on over the course of the season, so it isn’t encouraging news for Yankee fans that Rodriguez is still being bothered by it. This is the first season since 1995 that Rodriguez has started less than 129 games.