They're trying to clinch the division, which would give the Yankees a 3-0 win in the opening lightning round, which is important but not necessarily crucial to their goal.
Instead, with 15 games and just over two weeks remaining in the regular season, the priority for manager Aaron Boone and the team's brass should be building a postseason rotation, lineup and durable back end of the bullpen.
Fall starts a week from Sunday, but the rest of this month will be full of spring-training-like auditions: Will the Yankees slot Alex Verdugo into left field every day while Jason Dominguez is on the bench? Will the team actually start the playoffs with its day-to-day closer?
And which of the six potential starters will be out of the rotation (and certainly not on the postseason roster) for at least the best-of-three series and the best-of-five series in the next round?
Boone gave a pretty strong hint before Friday's game against the Red Sox in the Bronx — and he stressed that no decision is irreversible, which is of course true — but the Yankees will be without Marcus Stroman next time out as they field a five-man rotation featuring Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, Carlos Rodon, Clark Schmidt and Nestor Cortes.
“Stro will be out this time,” Boone said of the 33-year-old right-hander, who has a 5.57 ERA in his past four starts and has struck out in his past two outings. “He'll likely be available to pitch out of the bullpen on Sunday, but we'll continue to evaluate him after that.”
Stroman has appeared in 28 games this season, all starts. He began his major league career in 2014 and has appeared in 259 games. All but eight of those games have been starts, with six relief appearances coming in his rookie season with Toronto and the other two coming with the Cubs last year.
Let's just say that Ramiro Mendoza is not like that.
“I'm going to try to put him in the best position possible. I'm going to try to communicate well with him,” Boone said. “He and I are [Thursday] Nothing lasts forever, but on your days off [coming up Monday]”I'd like to do at least five next turn, and maybe the next. We'll see what happens.”
Stroman has done his part in the first year of a two-year contract that pays him $18 million next season with a player option for $18 million in 2026. The feisty right-hander has played a key role in filling innings in the rotation during the absences of Cole, Schmidt and Gill, respectively. Stroman's 28 starts rank third behind Rodon and Cortez, who each have 29 starts. His 148¹/₃ innings also rank third behind Rodon and Cortez.
“He's one of the reasons we're here,” Boone said when asked about Stroman's season. “He's been in the post for us, he's made every start and won a lot of games. [10] For us.
“I think one of the reasons we have a chance to make the postseason is the stability of our starting pitching. Overall, he's done a really good job for us and I told him he's one of the reasons we're in this position.”
Baseball is a cruel beast. Stroman's late splits have trended downwards consistently throughout his career. He doesn't necessarily have the out-pitches to make the postseason work. If this decision isn't set in stone, it's probably going to be close, barring a few injuries.
Cole will work Game 1. The Yankees will likely use Gill in Game 2, but the opponent will likely play a key role in the final decision. Schmidt, Rodon and Cortes (3.11 ERA at the stadium, 4.81 on the road) all have the potential to become the franchise's modern-day Andy Pettitte, who started nine straight Game 2 games in the division series from 1995 to 2003. The team went 6-3 in those starts.
Schmidt was looking to build on his 75-pitch, 4 2/3 scoreless innings at Wrigley Stadium last week against Boston, but he spent the first half of his career as a reliever before being moved into the starting rotation early last year, so he may be more valuable in that role come October.
Boone said that no matter how disappointing and bittersweet the news was, Stroman took it with an all-for-all attitude.
“He puts his team and his teammates first,” Boone said. “Whatever you need, I'm ready. I think he just wants to be part of a winner. I'm glad he's here and a big part of our team, but the team loves him dearly, too.”
“It's been a real pleasure managing him.”
The Yankees entered the night two games behind Baltimore, their largest lead since Aug. 7. They want to solidify that lead, and they'll want to give Aaron Judge some rest. First, they need to solidify their starting rotation, relief pitchers and batting lineup.
Strowman might go down first.
