The New York Yankees lost their Opening Day starter, Gerrit Cole, to an elbow injury that has proven to be too hard to diagnose.
The reigning AL Cy Young award winner has an appointment on Thursday to see Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles.
That appointment will likely dictate if Cole misses the first 1-2 months of the season like it has already been announced, or longer than that.
In the meantime, naming an Opening Day starter could prove challenging for manager Aaron Boone.
He said this week that he had been thinking about one candidate, but wasn’t ready to name him.
He did say that Carlos Rodon is penciled in for Game 2 of the season, though, so it won’t be him.
As revealed by Marcus Stroman himself on Thursday, it won’t be him either.
“Marcus Stroman says he will not be the Yankees’ Opening Day starter. He spoke with Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone about it. They agreed it would be too difficult to shift his schedule at this point of the spring,” Yankees insider Bryan Hoch tweeted.
Marcus Stroman says he will not be the Yankees’ Opening Day starter. He spoke with Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone about it. They agreed it would be too difficult to shift his schedule at this point of the spring.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) March 14, 2024
For scheduling purposes, Stroman won’t be able to take the ball for that important March 28 start against the Houston Astros.
If it isn’t Cole, Rodon or Stroman, there are only two realistic options left: Nestor Cortes and Clarke Schmidt.
Cortes’ 2023 campaign was derailed with rotator cuff strains, but he posted a 2.90 ERA in 2021 and a 2.44 mark in 2022.
Schmidt made strides last year, yet still finished with a 4.64 ERA in 159 frames.
We should all know more in a few days, but the Yankees’ Opening Day starter will, in all likelihood, be one of those two names.
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