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The New York Yankees starting rotation has been decimated by injuries. Gerrit Cole is out for the year. Luis Gil is out for a couple of months. Clarke Schmidt will begin the season on the Injured List.
Across town, the New York Mets aren't in great shape, either. Some free-agency exits and injuries have hampered their starting five as well, so neither New York team has its strongest five-man unit.
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That said, MLB sportscaster Sal Licata is taking the Yankees when forced to choose thanks to Marcus Stroman, Carlos Rodon and Max Fried. He said:
"I don't think it's close, it's the Yankees. I don't love Carlos Rodon, but they have Max Fried who is a legitimate number one. And even Rodon, if you don't love him like me, still as a number two, that's better than anything that the Mets have.
"And even Stroman, who we don't all love here, as a three? The Mets' issue is that they're going with Clay Holmes... he's a bullpen guy."
Licata took issue with the fact that the Mets are using a converted reliever, albeit someone who's pitched well this spring, for Opening Day. The Yankees, on the other hand, have Max Fried in their rotation, though he'll miss Opening Day because of how his spring starts lined up.
Licata admitted that Kodai Senga has been great before, but he's just not all that enthused by Senga, David Peterson, Clay Holmes, Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill.
Carlos Rodon opens up on getting Opening Day for the Yankees
The New York Yankees, for the second straight year, will not have Gerrit Cole to start Opening Day. He's not going to pitch at all, but the normal Opening Day starter had to be replaced with someone else.
The Yankees landed on Carlos Rodon partly because of how his spring schedule lined up. He said, via ESPN:
"It's an honor. I'm excited. Just want to go out there and win the game."
Rodon just had his final tune-up of spring and pitched well. His manager Aaron Boone added:
"I feel like his arsenal continues to evolve -- the secondary stuff is getting stronger and stronger, the changeup becoming a real factor for him now."
Last year, the Yankees went with Nestor Cortes for Opening Day, a player who is now ironically going to start against the Yankees during their opening series with the Milwaukee Brewers.
