Opening Day starter stays a mystery for Bombers
LAKELAND, Fla. — As Aaron Boone walked off Publix Field on Thursday, Andy Pettitte strolled by his side.
Maybe the former All-Star turned special assistant is Boone’s choice to start the Yankees’ first game of the season.
That’s a joke, but the manager remained reluctant to announce his Opening Day starter following a loss to the Tigers. The honor previously belonged to Gerrit Cole before his elbow started barking and sent him on a cross-country flight to Los Angeles to see Dr. Neal ElAttrache. At the time of publication, it was believed that initial tests haven’t found a tear in Cole’s elbow yet — even though Boone wouldn’t say so on Wednesday — but the pitcher is still expected to miss at least one-to-two months.
On Thursday morning, Boone said Cole wasn’t meeting with ElAttrache until later in the day and that the team wouldn’t have more information until the evening. Even if tests keep coming back clean, however, Cole needs time to ramp up and won’t be ready for the start of the season.
“I’m not getting into that right now,” Boone said of Cole’s Opening Day replacement.
That response came after Marcus Stroman said it likely won’t be him taking the mound on March 28 in Houston.
The righty said he talked to Boone and Brian Cashman about possibly starting on Opening Day, but that it isn’t important to him. Instead, Stroman believes it’s best for him to stay on the schedule he’s on, something he said the trio agreed on. That would line Stroman up for the Yankees’ third game of the season in Houston on March 30 and the home opener against Toronto on April 5.
“For me, it’s going out there and making 32, 33-plus starts. That’s the goal,” Stroman said after allowing four earned runs over 4.1 innings against the Tigers. “Doesn’t matter if you start out in the one or the five position, so they know that. They’re aware of that. I think I’m gonna end up staying in my position just because it’s too late in the year now to kind of get on track for Opening Day.
“I think they thought that I was going to be like, ‘Hey, let me get it.’ But that’s not my nature, man. Doesn’t matter to me. I’m confident in whoever goes out there from this squad to get the job done. And at the end of the day, it’s just another game. So I’m not someone who’s going to be upset if I don’t get the Opening Day nod.”
While Stroman, a Long Island native, admitted that it will be “exhilarating” for him to start the home opener, he didn’t want to tweak his routine for the very first game of the season.
“I put a priority on the body,” said Stroman, who battled a hip issue in the second half last season as a member of the Cubs. “People don’t understand how much changing your schedule at this point in spring – it might seem like it’s easy. ‘Oh, he can do that.’ But every little day matters.”
However, Boone said that things “could change” with Stroman, and he noted that other members of the rotation will have to change their schedules.
On Wednesday, Boone said Carlos Rodón will start the Yankees’ second game of the season. When it comes to who starts on Opening Day, that leaves Nestor Cortes and Clarke Schmidt as the only other options who entered spring training as projected members of the rotation.
“Could be,” Boone said when specifically asked if it will be one of the two. “I’ve decided who’s starting. I just want to let a few more days go off the clock just because a lot can happen still.”
Schmidt and Cortes are both scheduled to throw today. Schmidt will start against the Pirates, while Cortes will throw a live session.
Meanwhile, Luke Weaver threw a live session on Thursday after a stiff neck scratched him from a start earlier in the week. Prospects Will Warren and Clayton Beeter threw bullpens on Thursday. All are considered depth starters who could fill the void left by Cole, but the three would be outsidethe-box options for Opening Day, to say the least.
The same goes for Luis Gil, scheduled to start Saturday, and Cody Poteet, who threw a live session on Wednesday.