Yanks looking over ‘interesting’ choices to fill out rotation
After watching their rotation get decimated by injuries last season, the Yankees added just one notable starter this offseason.
That would be Marcus Stroman, whose own recent injury history has kept him from cracking 140 innings the last two seasons. However, pitching coach Matt Blake said the Yankees have some “interesting candidates” who can fill in for a rotation that also features Carlos Rodón and Nestor Cortes, former All-Stars who weren’t particularly effective on the rare occasions they were healthy last season.
Those candidates include — but are not limited to — righthanders Luke Weaver, Cody Morris and Cody Poteet. All three have major-league experience as starters and relievers, potentially setting them up for roles as swingmen.
Blake said the group will likely build up as starters in spring training after the Yankees lost significant starting depth in trades, free agency and the Rule 5 draft this winter. As camp goes on, the Yankees will see if any of the three make more sense as relievers, depending on the team’s health and roster needs. If any come out of the bullpen this season, Blake imagines they would be used for multi-inning appearances in the 50-60-pitch range. That would allow them to pop into the rotation as needed.
Weaver, 30, re-signed with the Yankees on an incentive-laden deal fit for a swingman. A former top prospect, he’s endured numerous arm injuries and little success throughout his career, posting a 5.14 ERA over 574.1 innings.
However, Weaver pitched well over a short audition with the Yankees last September, allowing five earned runs over 13.1 innings. At the time, Blake said the pitcher had been on his radar for a while.
“He’s a good athlete with a good delivery and a relative history of throwing strikes,” the coach said. “That’s a good place to start because those guys are generally pretty adaptable. Obviously, getting him in-house, you start to learn a little bit more about his capacity to learn things quickly, and he definitely took to some adjustments.
“Getting him back this year, I think there’s some untapped potential that hopefully we can lean into.”
Blake said changes to Weaver’s cutter usage helped him at the end of last season. This spring, Blake would like to see him add more ride to his fourseam fastball, among other tweaks.
While Morris is new to the Yankees, Blake is no stranger. He helped oversee Morris’ development in Cleveland after the club used a seventh-round pick on the 27-year-old in 2018.
Morris came aboard in the trade that sent Estevan Florial to the Guardians.
Blake said that staying healthy will be one of Morris’ goals this spring and season. He’s also battled injuries and has never thrown more than 89 innings in a professional season.
Morris only worked as a reliever over six major-league games last year. He started just four games in 21 minor-league appearances.
Armed with a mid-90s fastball and a plus changeup, Morris will also look to improve his curveball and a cutter-slider hybrid.
“When he’s right, he’s got a really good fastball-changeup mix,” Blake said. “Trying to put together pieces around it will be important to kind of determine what role he ends up in.”
Morris still has two minor-league options.
Poteet, meanwhile, has three. The former Marlin inked a split deal after spending the vast majority of 2023 recovering from Tommy John surgery with the Royals.
A fourth-round pick in 2015, Poteet had no prior connection to Blake. However, the 29-year-old has trained at Eric Cressey’s facility for years.
Cressey is the Yankees’ director of player health and performance.
“We had homework on him and Eric knew him really well,” Blake said. “We just had some exposure that way. Knowing his story, it helped us see where the upside is with him. He had been hurt the last couple of years. Maybe not a lot of opportunities, got back at the end of last year. Now he’s ready to hopefully take off again with good health.”