Yankees likely staring at tight Heliot Ramos-Spencer Jones call in possible playoff battle vs. Red Sox

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.Don’t miss Greg Joyce’s text messages from The Bronx and beyond — he’s giving Sports+ subscribers the inside buzz on the Yankees.

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?That is one of the many questions that could await manager Aaron Boone if September plays out as expected.Ramos was acquired from the Giants precisely for the job, an established lefty killer who, since he has started seeing lefties with the Yankees, has killed them.

After turning his one at-bat Tuesday against Colorado lefty Brennan Bernardino into a three-run home run, Ramos entered play with a .979 OPS against lefties with the Yankees and an .875 OPS against such pitchers for the whole season.Given a harsh spotlight in his first days after the trade deadline because he was playing every day against mostly righties for a club that didn’t have Aaron Judge or Cody Bellinger, Ramos is now mostly relegated to pinch-hit duties and starts against southpaws, a job with which he has excelled.“I just want to help the team win.That’s my main thing,” said Ramos, who started all four of those games against the Red Sox last month, smacked his first Yankees homer and reached base eight times in 12 plate appearances in the series...