With only three MLB playoff games currently assured, the New York Yankees announced their plans on Wednesday morning for opening the ALDS with a bang.
As expected, Gerrit Cole will toe the rubber in Game 1, meaning Aaron Boone and Co. were not deterred by Ben Rice cracking a big honkin’ home run off him in workout action on Tuesday. Carlos Rodón will hurl Game 2, which is also what most fans were projecting before being delivered the news.
As for Game 3? It depends on the outcomes of the first two, but it seems like Clarke Schmidt is most likely to be used as the caddy, whereas Luis Gil has priority as the opener.
That means that Gil will more than likely start the third game, with Schmidt appearing in relief of whoever needs his assistance most.
Yankees’ ALDS rotation features Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil with Clarke Schmidt cameo
Now, the bullpen is where things really get interesting.
The Yankees were noncommittal on Tuesday about Marcus Stroman’s inclusion on the initial best-of-five roster, and the only thing we know for sure is that Cody Poteet won’t be there.
Matt Blake’s Wednesday comments seemed to reveal who Stroman was competing with for positioning. They also locked in someone who was previously thought of as replaceable as a key contributor.
Tim Mayza, in the absence of Nestor Cortes Jr., is apparently in the mix for high-leverage late game work. Mark Leiter Jr. is … not.
While it might be nice to have two Tommy Kahnles to use, that second edition was meant to be Clay Holmes, who Boone let slip would be used against a “righty lane” in high-leverage situations. Hopefully, that lane will be affected by closures after one (1) terrible appearance.
Hope that terrible appearance never comes! Hope he’s awesome! But … act swiftly.
Four starters, seven relief arms … that means only one spot left for Stroman or Leiter Jr., unless the Yankees are averse to a five-man bench and plan to leave Trent Grisham home. Given the mixing and matching they’ll probably have to do with Oswaldo Cabrera in Anthony Rizzo’s absence, though, it does seem as if the Yankees as picking between two very different mop-up artists for their final roster selection.
And man … Mayza escaping seven successive DFAs to get here? Impressive. It’s just a shame Michael Tonkin can’t come home from the out-of-the-playoffs Twins.
