Aaron Boone Gives Clarity on Yankees' Fourth and Fifth Starter Race
By Scott Rogust
The New York Yankees are in a bit of a bind in terms of pitching. Yes, they secured Gerrit Cole on a monster nine-year contract, but they will be without Luis Severino for the entire 2020 season, while James Paxton will be out until at least May following back surgery.
So with Cole, Masahiro Tanaka, and JA Happ as the top starters in the rotation, who gets the final two spots?
On Thursday, manager Aaron Boone revealed that Jordan Montgomery has essentially secured the No. 4 spot in the starting rotation.
Jordan Montgomery is pretty much a lock for the rotation, Aaron Boone indicated today:
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) March 5, 2020
"This is a guy that’s already had a really strong big league season under his belt. So I’m excited about where he is and feel like he’s very much solidifying himself."
This is a no-brainer, as Montgomery has a good chunk of major league experience, and looks phenomenal this spring. He pitched one full season back in 2017, where he recorded a 3.88 ERA and 9-7 record in 29 starts. He did miss the better part of the following two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery midway through the 2018 season to repair his UCL.
As for who gets the final spot in the rotation, Boone says the spot will be subjected to a wide open competition. Deivi Garcia, Clarke Schmidt, Jonathan Loaisiga, David Hale, Nick Nelson, and Luis Cessa were names that Boone brought up specifically.
As for the fifth spot in the #Yankees rotation, Aaron Boone said it's still wide open, including piggybacking starters and/or an opener.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) March 5, 2020
He mentioned Jonathan Loaisiga, Luis Cessa, Deivi Garcia, David Hale, Nick Nelson & Clarke Schmidt as being factors.
Good to hear Schmidt in there!
Just like Montgomery, Loaisiga has big league experience and much higher upside than that of Cessa, not to mention that Loaisiga has dominated in spring training thus far. But Schmidt and Garcia are the two of their top pitching prospects, who have been virtually untouchable in trade talks. Now could be their time to prove their worth.
Either way, Boone only has a couple of weeks to round out his rotation.