Prospect may get ‘Chance’ in rotation

BOSTON — Bryan Mitchell and Luis Cessa will get the first cracks at replacing Michael Pineda in the Yankees’ rotation, but don’t rule out Chance Adams muscling his way into the rotation.

“We still feel kind of that he has more work to do,’’ manager Joe Girardi said Friday of Adams, who became the Yankees’ top pitching prospect when James Kaprielian had Tommy John surgery in April. “Could he be an option later on? Absolutely. It is something that could happen, but it’s not something we have said, ‘He is going to make a start.’ It comes down to command, using all his pitches, using his third pitch. He still has some work to do.’’

Adams, who will be 23 in August, is 10-3 with a 1.94 ERA in a combined 17 starts for Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre this year. In 92 2/3 innings, the right-hander has 96 strikeouts and issued 37 walks.

Mitchell gets the first chance when he starts Sunday in the first game of a doubleheader against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. In 12 big league relief appearances, Mitchell is 1-1 with a 5.06 ERA. ➤ Girardi not including CC Sa

bathia in the four-man rotation against the Red Sox had nothing to do with him not wanting the veteran lefty to face the Red Sox lineup.

“It’s not necessarily I wanted him to miss Boston, I wanted to give everybody an equal amount of time off. He threw [a simulated game] Sunday,’’ Girardi said of Sabathia, who likely will start Monday or Tuesday against the Twins in Minneapolis. ➤ Girardi thought about using the right-handed hitting Clint Frazier against Red Sox lefty Drew Pomeranz on Friday night, but noted Pomeranz’s ability to handle right-handed hitters. With the Red Sox starting lefty Chris Sale on Saturday and lefty David Price in Sunday’s nightcap, Frazier is likely to start those games.

➤ Starlin Castro was 1-for-4 in a rehab game for the Double-A Trenton Thunder on Friday night. The Thunder lost to the Hartford Yard Goats, 2-1, snapping a 12game win streak.