AL Wild Card race is trending toward Astros playoff matchup against hated rival

It almost feels inevitable, doesn't it?

Eric Cole

New York Yankees v Houston Astros / Alex Slitz/GettyImages

The American League playoff race is heating up, and predictably, the Houston Astros find themselves right in the middle of it. Though the Seattle Mariners have overtaken Houston in the AL West standings, the Astros are still hanging around and have actually moved up a spot in the AL Wild Card race — giving themselves some added cushion. If these results hold, their AL Wild Card matchup could be very, very interesting.

By now, the Astros have a history with most of the playoff contenders. Being part of the playoff picture for the past decade, including multiple deep runs, has made Houston and their fans quite familiar with the best teams in the league.

One that stands out, however, as one of the Astros most hated rivals are the new York Yankees. Assuming the current MLB playoff bracket holds, the Astros could be facing off against New York to start their playoff journey in 2025.

The Astros battling the Yankees in the AL Wild Card Series would be must-see TV

Obviously these are two teams that cannot stand each other, and could be the highlight of the entire postseason. Astros fans got a front row seat this season to Aaron Boone whining about umpires and the strike zone, and you won't have to look hard to find Yankees fans still harping on the sign stealing scandal. Between the bad blood and their recent playoff history, this is a matchup no one will want to miss.

As for whether or not going up against the 2025 Yankees is a good matchup for Houston, that's a bit tricky. The two teams have split their meetings this season, and New York would have home field advantage if the seeding remains unchanged. The Yankees, however, won't have Gerrit Cole, making the pitching matchups less scary, and Aaron Judge famously stinks in the postseason.

The most likely and arguably best outcome is a closely fought opening round series between the Yankees and Astros. Going up against the Mariners in the first round would be fun, and there's a world where the Boston Red Sox could make things interesting.

However, true rivalries in the postseason are hard to come by and getting to face the Yankees might be the ideal situation even if it is bad for Astros fans' blood pressure.

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Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.