Garcia may cause reset to rotation
Jaime Garcia is scheduled to join the Yankees on Tuesday and while the Yankees didn’t know Monday where the veteran lefty would fit into the rotation, he will be a starter.
“We got Garcia here to be a starting pitcher, but to be honest we have acquired a lot of guys here recently,’’ said general manager Brian Cashman who, while working on deals for Garcia on Sunday and Sonny Gray on Monday, hadn’t had time to sit with manager Joe Girardi and pitching coach Larry Rothschild to sort out who pitches where and when. “I will sit down with Joe and Larry and map out whatever is in our best interests. But we did acquire both of these guys to be starters for us. I can tell you that is our intent.’’
Barring an injury to Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia and Gray, Garcia will likely replace Jordan Montgomery in the rotation.
While the Yankees haven’t talked about limiting Montgomery’s innings, that could figure in the decision. He has worked 110 2/3 frames this year. The most he has thrown as a professional are 139 ¹/3 last year between Double-A and Triple-A.
“Those are a couple of things we have to work out,’’ Girardi said when asked where the 31-year-old Garcia Gray would fit in.
Girardi said the Yankees would discuss Gray, acquired from the A’s, and Garcia, who was dealt by the Twins, following Monday night’s 7-3 win over the Tigers.
Girardi said Gray, who last pitched July 25, would debut as a Yankee at the beginning of a road trip that opens Thursday in Cleveland. After lasting 2 2/3 innings Sunday against the Rays, Montgomery’s next day to start would be Friday in Cleveland. That could go to Garcia, whose last outing was July 28.
“I think he has pitched pretty well,’’ Girardi said of the 24-year-old Montgomery, who is 7-6 with a 4.15 ERA in 20 starts in his first year in the big leagues. “There have been some bumps in the road lately.’’
In Montgomery’s six July starts, he went 1-2 with a 5.90 ERA and the Yankees were 1-5. In 29 innings he allowed 33 hits and eight walks.
As for Garcia, he went 5-7 with a 4.29 ERA in 19 games (18 with the Braves; one with the Twins). However, he went 3-0 with a 3.05 ERA in the last three starts.
The Yankees continue to have patience waiting for
Matt Holliday’s bat to come alive, but that could run out.
“If it continues, obviously,’’ Girardi said Monday when asked what would cause more concern with Holliday, who went 0-for-3 with a walk and three whiffs Monday night. “He is kind of having a tough time now. We have seen some signs of life. You want to see him get going. Hopefully that happens soon. He had a couple of hits the other day against the left-hander so there are some signs. And he is really important to us.’’
Since returning from a disabled list stint (viral in- fection) on July 14, the 37year-old right-handed hitter has played in 17 games and is hitting .130 (9-for-69) with one homer and four RBIs. He has whiffed 22 times during that stretch.
For the season Holliday is batting .232 with 16 homers and 51 RBIs in 85 games.
played catch Monday afternoon and said he was available against the Tigers if needed one day after getting hit on the left hand by a pitch and in the neck when a foul ball hit the dirt and squeezed past the protector on the bottom of the mask. He was not used.
Austin Romine