HEAD TO HEAD, YANKS THE PICK

When the Red Sox took 2-of-3 games over the Yankees — outscoring them 27-14 — last month, the Bombers had yet to find their footing. Now? They’ve got their act together. After taking the first two games of their weekend series with Cleveland, the Yanks have won 14-of-15 to cut their division deficit to just a halfgame pending the Red Sox’ game last night. That ensured their Bronx series against the Sox beginning Tuesday will be a real battle for first place in the AL East.

With the rivalry about to re-launch, why not survey, with an open mind, which team has the most talented player — both currently and looking down the road — at each position?

In other words, who would you rather have?

First base

Hanley Ramirez vs. Neil Walker/

Greg Bird

Bird’s been out with an ankle injury all season, but he’ll be back soon and is the future at first for the Yankees. He’s OK as a first baseman and hits with power, but he keeps getting injured, so it’s been difficult to get a great read on him.

Ramirez is a 34-year-old former shortstop who thought he had a 30-30 season in him this year, but he’s well off the pace. He has been solid, though, and valuable enough that it looks as if he could make his $22 million option for 2019 kick in.

Bottom line, first is no great shakes for each team, at least for this season. Looking ahead, got to go with Bird.

Choice: Bird/Walker (Yanks)

Second base

Eduardo Nunez/Dustin Pedroia vs. Gleybar Torres

Do I have to choose? (Whose idea was this, anyway? Oh.) Torres is a young, gifted, defensive infielder who became the option during the winter, when the Yankees wisely decided very good second baseman Starlin Castro was worth trading for Giancarlo Stanton. Torres has been playing pretty well, certainly much better than Nunez, who has been a liability in the field and more and more often at the plate.

Pedroia is a huge question mark. When he is right, he is All-Star caliber, and maybe that’s who’s going to show up for the final three months of the season. If that’s the case, then I’ll revisit choosing Torres, but for now, he’s the guy.

Choice: Torres (Yankees)

Shortstop

Xander Bogaerts vs. Didi Gregorius

Bad timing for Bogaerts in this exercise, since Gregorius — along with Mike Trout and Mookie Betts — has been among the most valuable and most productive players in the league. Defensively, Bogaerts isn’t elite and Gregorius is better.

Bogaerts’ ankle injury, sustained against the Yankees early last month, curtailed a very strong start at the plate. He has looked great since his return, but he has played just half the games of Gregorius and can’t claim to be ahead of him in any facet. Bogaerts is three years younger and could be on the verge of blossoming into a complete player, especially one with more pop than he’s shown, but that’s just a projection. Gregorius is taking that next step. Choice: Gregorius (Yankees)

Third base

Rafael Devers vs. Miguel Andujar

Since the Yankees have not yet added

Manny Machado, the Red Sox won’t be swept in the infield. Andujar is the Yan kees’ most frequent answer to third base for the moment, with Ronald Torreyes and Brandon Drury contributing as fill-ins to the fill-in.

Even if he is still a work in progress, both offensively and defensively, Devers holds a large edge here. Still an inconsisust tent producer, he’s just 21 and very much on the learning curve. With the memory of that home run he muscled out against Aroldis Chapman last year, plus the two he

hit on Friday night in Texas, Devers is very much the optimal pick.

Choice: Devers (Red Sox)

Left field

Andrew Benintendi vs. Brett Gardner Gardner is 34 and doing nothing to make himself look any younger than that. He’s not stealing bases, hitting much or playing great defense, though he tends to show up against the Red Sox and be a pest — lengthy at-bats, lots of foul balls, etc.

Benintendi has been off to a better start, but not by a wide margin. He’s hitting for a higher average, he has a better on-base percentage and is playing fine enough in left field — nothing great. Still, this is only his second big-league season. He is coming out on the losing end of too many

battles with pitchers, but his hitting prowess is not exaggerated. He will figure out his swing soon enough and begin to do more damage. Maybe not this year, but he is only 23.

Choice: Benintendi (Red Sox)

Center field

Jackie Bradley Jr. vs. Aaron Hicks Bradley’s streakiness as a hitter is old news, and he’s definitely in a down phase lately. He’s not hitting lefties, he’s not hitting at Fenway, he’s not getting on base, he’s not shown much pop ... he’s not doing much. He remains strong defensively, but his throws — especially those made on the run — remain hit and miss in terms of accuracy.

Hicks is an underrated commodity, a gifted center fielder who hasn’t heated up yet at the plate, but is still getting on base and represents a long-ball threat. He’s a complete player who’s fun to watch. Bradley’s fun to watch, too, with a glove.

Choice: Hicks (Yankees)

Right field

Mookie Betts vs. Aaron

Judge

The toughest category. Judge is a generational talent, known colloquially as a “beast.” Entering this weekend, he had yet to find a consistent power stroke, but it won’t be long. Judge always looks way too big to be a right fielder, but he is quick, takes direct routes and gets to everything he’s supposed to. The home run’s his drawing card, of course, and he or Stanton are likely the best in the game at it.

If Betts were slightly less torrid, this would be an even more excruciating choice. Judge might be able to squish Betts completely were he to fall on top of him, but the 25-year-old — a year younger than Judge — has athleticism and talent just as impressive. They’ve each finished second in MVP voting and each has at least one in his future. It’s almost a coin flip, but I’d lean 52-48 in the direction of the Red Sox’ right fielder.

Choice: Betts (Red Sox)

Designated hitter

J.D. Martinez vs. Giancarlo Stanton

This is almost as tough of a call.

If I were to ask you which has more home runs the last three seasons, you’d probably say Stanton, and you’d be right — 113 to 105. But Martinez has the edge in batting average (.296/.265), on-base percentage (.363/.354) and OPS (.943/.934), among others (slugging is a push). Neither is great defensively, but Martinez provides more value to the Red Sox because he will be used in the corner outfield spot more than Stanton will in New York.

Stanton, however, is two years younger and appears to be starting to hit his stride. He is not as good of an all-around hitter, but his power is stupefying. Once he settles into the American League and being a DH, he will thrive and will wind up providing slightly more value than Martinez.

It’s a 53-47 type of call. Like Judge and Betts, each team wins with its player.

Choice: Stanton (Yankees)

Catcher

Christian Vazquez vs. Gary Sanchez Vazquez has the better arm. He is a better framer and is overall better than Sanchez behind the plate. But can we stop right there?

Sanchez could become Mike Piazza with the power and pop he has. He may not be the pitcher’s best friend as a receiver, but as a run provider, they’ll learn to love him.

Choice: Sanchez (Yankees)

Rotation

The Yankees just lost Jordan Montgomery to an ominous forearm strain, so their rotation depth is about to be challenged. Lately, though, Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia and Sonny Gray have begun to pitch much better, with numbers that rival a Red Sox rotation that has started to slip.

Still, Chris Sale, David Price and especially Rick Porcello are a better top three.

Choice: Red Sox

Bullpen

After a slow start, the Yankees bullpen has strode to the top of the heap, with no reason to believe it will vacate the spot. As a unit, the relievers were striking out batters at a rate of nearly 13 per nine innings. Chapman is still electric, and so is Chasen Shreve.

Craig Kimbrel is still dominating, usually, but the supporting cast around him is not as good as what the Yankees have.

Choice: Yankees