McAdam: As showdown series arrives, both Red Sox and Yankees are banged up

For baseball fans in the Northeast, the four-game series between the Red Sox and Yankees starting Thursday has been circled on the calendar for much of the season — a four-game set immediately following the non-waiver trade deadline, a perfect late-summer test for both.

But that was before circumstances intervened and conspired to weaken the Sox and Yanks with a series of injuries.

LOOKING FOR RED SOX TICKETS? Try BSJ ticket partner SeatsForEveryone.com

The Yankees will be without Gary Sanchez (groin), Aaron Judge (wrist) and perhaps new acquisition J.A. Happ (hand, foot and mouth disease), who may or may not start Saturday.

The Red Sox? Starters Eduardo Rodriguez (ankle) and Steven Wright (knee) are on the DL, as is catcher Christian Vazquez (finger) and third baseman Rafael Devers (hamstring). And on Wednesday, the Sox took the double hit of losing Chris Sale (shoulder inflammation), and possibly, Xander Bogaerts (hand).

For marquee value, the absence of Judge and Sale takes away some serious star power from the series. Judge is one of the game's most ferocious power hitters and Sale is the current favorite to capture the AL Cy Young Award.

Injuries, of course, are a fact of life over the course of a long season, and now that we're officially into the final third of the regular season schedule, can't be viewed with surprise.

But they have consequences -- now and into the near future. If, as forecast, Sale returns sometime next week and misses just one start and Devers returns as anticipated during the same timeframe, the biggest concern for the Red Sox may well be Bogaerts.

Rodriguez is making progress in his rehab, and Devers, too, is currently sidelined with a relatively minor ailment. But it's Bogaerts whom the Sox worry about the most.

After he was struck in the right hand by a 99 mph fastball, Bogaerts couldn't avoid thinking about a similar injury which took place 11 months ago. On July 6, 2017, at Tropicana Field, Bogaerts was struck in the right hand and never fully recovered the rest of the way. His power numbers sank like a stone -- his slugging percentage went from .455 to .340 the rest of the way and he managed just four homers over his final 68 games.

There was no mistaking the shortstop's concern late Wednesday night, even as x-rays proved negative. That had been the case last summer, but the damage to the hand was obvious, break or now break.  He was glum as he thought back to that moment in St. Petersburg last summer, and thinking how eerily similar the circumstances were.

The injuries that have hit both rosters come as the teams made a number of additions, some made specifically with each other in mind.

The Sox last month obtained Steve Pearce to help improve their play against lefties, including CC Sabathia, who draws the opening night assignment for the Yanks Thursday.

Meanwhile, each team obtained a starting pitcher in part with the other in mind. Happ gives the Yanks a second lefty in the rotation, while Nathan Eovaldi, set to go Saturday, was attractive to the Sox in part because of his ability to limit righthand hitters (.194 batting average against), who dot the New York lineup from top to bottom.

As anticipated as series is, it isn't about to determine the division with two full months still to play. After the Yankees' 7-5 loss to Baltimore Wednesday afternoon, they sit 5.5 games behind the Red Sox (but four out in the loss column) with three games in hand.

Even a sweep -- highly unlikely given how close the teams are in ability and performance -- by the Red Sox would leave the Yankees only eight out in the loss column with 52 to play and six more head-to-head meetings remaining. Far more likely than a sweep is one team taking three, which would make the deficit entirely manageable.

"We know where we're at,'' summarized Alex Cora Wednesday.

Which is, for now, in the driver's seat, but with plenty of road ahead.