With the Yankees beginning a three-game series against the Athletics on Friday, Aaron Boone still didn’t have a decision on his Sunday starter when he spoke to reporters in the afternoon.
He hoped to make one in the next few hours. The choice is between right-handers Marcus Stroman and Allan Winans, who were both scheduled to throw side sessions at Yankee Stadium on Friday.
“We’ll kind of huddle up and see how we’re gonna go,” Boone said.
It’s notable that the Yankees haven’t come out and said that Stroman is starting, as he’s making $18.5 million this season and is three Double-A starts into a rehab assignment after being bothered by knee inflammation earlier this season. However, those rehab starts have been a struggle, as the veteran has a 6.97 ERA over 10.1 innings.
Stroman’s most recent rehab start was particularly poor, as he totaled 10 hits, five earned runs, two walks and one strikeout over 3.2 innings.
With some of the worst Stuff+ in baseball, Stroman needs pinpoint command to be effective at this stage in his career. However, he’s lacked that on his rehab assignment, and things weren’t much better before he went on the injured list, as he logged an 11.57 ERA over three big league starts at the beginning of the season.
Winans, meanwhile, made his Yankees debut on June 23 in Cincinnati after posting a 0.90 ERA over 50 innings at Triple-A. Winans started off strong that day but ultimately allowed four earned runs over 4.1 innings while walking none and striking out one.
His stuff didn’t grade well, either.
SHORTHANDED WITH ESCARRA OUT
While Boone didn’t know his pitching plans for Sunday, he did expect to play short-handed against the A’s this weekend.
The Yankees are without J.C. Escarra, who has been away from the team since Wednesday for the birth of his son. However, the Yankees haven’t officially placed the catcher on the paternity list, and they didn’t intend to make a corresponding move with Escarra expected back on Sunday.
“A couple of the guys that we were gonna bring, one got hurt,” Boone said. “The other is on paternity leave as well.”
Boone said utilityman Braden Shewmake was one of the 40-man roster options who got hurt. Outfielder Everson Pereira, meanwhile, is the other player on paternity leave.
Boone added “it probably didn’t make sense to make a certain move” with the Yankees facing the left-handed JP Sears on Saturday. That likely was a reference to the lefty-swinging Jorbit Vivas, another option on the 40-man roster.
Jesus Rodriguez, CJ Alexander and Bryan De La Cruz are also at Triple-A and on the 40-man roster, but it doesn’t seem like they’ll be making a trip to the Bronx this weekend even though Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is home.
With Escarra gone, Ben Rice made his second big league start behind the plate on Friday.
Meanwhile, it also sounded like the Yankees could be short in the bullpen with Jonathan Loáisiga still dealing with an illness.
Boone said the right-hander was feeling better on Friday and planned on playing catch, but Loáisiga was “pretty sick” on Thursday.
“My understanding is that [there’s] a lot of improvement today, so we’ll see how he is and where he’s at,” Boone said before later adding he’d probably stay away from Loáisiga if possible in the opener.
GIL PROGRESSING
Luis Gil (lat) threw live batting practice in Somerset on Thursday. Boone said he will throw a bullpen this weekend and then another live next week when the Yankees are on the road. That session should be about two innings and 35 pitches.
From there, the Yankees will decide if a rehab assignment is next for Gil, who has yet to make his season debut.
