Chandler Simpson (foot) remains out of Rays lineup

There’s also a good chance that Imai will serve as the bulk reliever behind AJ Blubaugh for Game 1 of the series. In 18 innings as a reliever this season, Imai has a 2.00 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, .129 batting average against, and a 25/11 K/BB ratio.

The Red Sox only need three starting pitchers for this first series, so Sandoval had been pitching out of the bullpen in recent games, perhaps to see how he would handle that role in the playoffs. With Garrett Crochet (shoulder) now also returning and Jake Bennett able to provide depth out of the bullpen as well, the team had no need for Sandoval in this series.

We had been trending this way for a while, and now it’s official. Crochet will not be used as a starter in this series, but he has been throwing for weeks now and was reportedly hitting 96 mph in his last live batting practice session. He will be an option for the Red Sox out of the bullpen in this series.

Stanton has not played in an MLB game since April 24th. He originally injured his right calf but then suffered a left calf injury during rehab. The 36-year-old has been taking live batting practice and could still give the Yankees a real boost, with the Red Sox set to start left-hander Payton Tolle in Game 1. However, if Stanton is at DH in Game 1, that means one of Luis Garcia and Ben Rice would play first base, and the other would likely sit. Given recent lineups, Garcia will almost assuredly be the one on the bench.

Grisham has been on the injured list with a hamstring strain since September 4th. The outfielder hit just .170/.261/.352 in 45 games since the All-Star break. With the Red Sox also set to use multiple left-handed starters, it remains to be seen if Grisham will be a regular starter for the Yankees in this series.

Despite Judge claiming that he was intending to play, it always seemed like a long shot. The 34-year-old has a calf strain that was expected to sideline him for 2-6 weeks, and he had not done any running in the days leading up to the announcement. Judge will continue to rehab and almost assuredly will be on the Yankees roster for the Divisional series, if they can get there.

He struck out against Ryan Weathers. Judge didn’t do any running during the live BP or afterwards. It seems like it would be quite the roll of the dice to put him on the Wild Card roster 13 days after he suffered a calf strain.

Smith started one of his 18 appearances after joining the White Sox in August, pitching two scoreless innings against the Pirates. He topped out at three innings in relief against the Twins on Sept. 6 and had a 1.29 ERA in 28 innings overall.

With Kevin Gausman’s status a little bit up in the air, Boyd seemed like the one certainty to get a start for the Cubs in the Wild Card. He’ll be pitching on four days’ rest after limiting the Marlins to one run over seven innings last time out. He also pitched Game 1 of last year’s Wild Card against the Padres, allowing one run over 4 1/3 innings in what turned into a 3-1 win for the Cubs.

Seager was limited to 102 games this year, but the elbow never kept him out. Still, it might have had something to do with his career worst .227/.312/.424 line. Seager could have surgery and still be ready in plenty of time for spring training.