TAMPA, Fla. — According to multiple reports, New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone will be creative with the starting rotation from the outset. The pitching rotation will also include a sixth starter at some point during the early going. Hence, Deivi Garcia is on standby at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Through the initial six contests, the Yankees expect to march out Gerrit Cole, Corey Kluber, Domingo German, Jordan Montgomery, Cole, and Jameson Taillon. Taillon is slated to throw a sim game on Friday as the Yankees attempt to build him up and ease him back from injury.
The rotation also keeps Cole on his regular turn.
Boone added that plugging in a sixth starter at least once in April, if not more, will enable the rest of the staff to build back up as well. It’s probably not the worst idea considering some of these guys haven’t pitched in two years, your bullpen isn’t as deep as in previous years, so you’re going to need another arm to eat inning, and you keep your starters that much fresher for extra outings when October rolls around.
Here's Aaron Boone's full answer when asked about the order to the #Yankees' starting rotation.
Sounds like they put a lot of thought into this and keeping Cole on his five-day routine while building up Taillon slowly was the best decision for New York to start the year. pic.twitter.com/VSaT6xsK5L
— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) March 28, 2021
So, if you’re looking at the schedule for the first homestand (weather/COVID-19 permitting):
Cole – Toronto
Kluber – Toronto
German – Toronto
Montgomery – Baltimore
Cole – Baltimore
Taillon – Baltimore
