Inside The Pinstripes

How Friday's Rainout Impacts the Yankees' Starting Rotation

Nestor Cortes was scheduled to pitch on Friday against the White Sox. He'll pitch on Saturday instead, pushing everybody else in the starting staff back.

Max Goodman

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NEW YORK — Yankees left-hander Nestor Cortes took the field on Friday afternoon as scheduled, throwing with catcher Jose Trevino outside of New York's dugout at Yankee Stadium.

Rather than getting set for his eighth start of the season, however, Cortes was keeping his arm loose, preparing for Saturday's ballgame instead.

Friday evening's Yankees-White Sox game was postponed due to sustained inclement weather in the forecast, pushing the first contest of a three-game set with Chicago back to a doubleheader on Sunday.

Shortly after news of the postponement broke, Yankees manager Aaron Boone confirmed that Cortes will take the ball on Saturday. New York's starters for Sunday's doubleheader are to be determined, Boone added.

"We'll talk about how we want to line it up moving forward," Boone said. "It may just stay on line with [Luis Severino] and Jameson [Taillon], but we'll get together and talk about exactly what we want."

Severino was initially scheduled to pitch Saturday with Taillon lined up for Sunday Night Baseball. 

Last time the Yankees had a rainout—during their previous homestand—New York needed to call up a sixth starter to help reset the rotation. Asked who could be called upon to pitch in that spot, likely early next week, Boone mentioned lefty JP Sears, who has been stretching out in Triple-A after starting the regular season with the big-league club.

"JP Sears has been down there starting and getting built up, too," Boone said. "That's one of the things we'll kind of talk about and see just where we want to insert that sixth guy. But it could be a number of candidates and a number of different ways we go about it."

Michael King and Clarke Schmidt could also be used, although both have been pitching out of the bullpen this season. 

Luis Gil was called upon in that scenario, making his season debut last week in Chicago. He won't be available this time around, though. The right-hander left his next start, in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with an apparent elbow injury. Boone didn't have an official update on Friday, but confirmed that Gil will miss time with a "significant injury."

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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