Rainouts muck up pitching rotation

NEW YORK — The Yankees’ pitching is in a pinch.

With two straight days of rain, the schedule has become an issue. The Yankees and Rangers were rained out Saturday and will play a single-admission doubleheader Sunday, then finish the series Monday.

Instead of having scheduled days off Thursday and Monday, they will now play 23 games over the next 22 days. It will be their longest stretch of the season without a break.

Their next scheduled day off comes after their first series against Tampa Bay on May 29.

With a doubleheader Sunday, the Yankees likely need a sixth starter Thursday in the series opener against the White Sox in Chicago. The Yankees can add a 27th player for the scheduled doubleheader.

If the Yankees stay on rotation, Gerrit Cole, who was scheduled to pitch on an extra day of rest Friday, is likely to pitch Sunday with two extra days of rest.

The Yankees could use Luis Severino on an extra day of rest Sunday as well or stick in a spot starter in that doubleheader. By using a spot starter, that would push back the rest of the rotation and cover the starts until Cole’s turn on regular rest Friday.

It’s early in the season, so it seems unlikely the Yankees would want to bring Cole back on short rest for Thursday’s start against the White Sox.

The Yankees have talked about the depth of their pitching all season and now it will be tested.

Michael King, who has been invaluable in the bullpen, could make a spot start. The young right-hander has given up just one earned run over 17 ⅔ innings this season while striking out 25 and walking only three.

The Yankees just sent down Clarke Schmidt, with the intention of stretching him out to be a starter. The righthander would still be within the 15-day window that he could not return to the big leagues, however.

They also have Deivi Garcia and Luis Gil in Triple A, but both have struggled.

Garcia, who had a breakout year in 2020, has a 9.00 ERA through four games. Gil, who made his major-league debut to much fanfare last season, is even worse with a 9.53 ERA over five games.

J.P. Sears, the left-hander who spent the first few weeks of the season in the big-league bullpen, could also be a candidate. He’s made three appearances in Triple A, striking out nine over 7 ⅔ innings.

Through 25 games the Yankees pitching has been the cornerstone of the team. They have the best ERA (2.60) in the American League and the second-best in the bigs after the Dodgers.

Ticket update: Fans holding paid tickets for the game originally scheduled to be played Saturday may use them for the rescheduled game on Monday, 1:05 p.m., or exchange them for tickets to a similar regular season game at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees’ rain check policy can be found at www. yankees.com/raincheck.