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It's been a confusing and frustrating week for the New York Yankees and their fans. With the regular season looming, the club has been dealing with a number of injuries to the team's biggest stars. Both Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole have suffered Spring Training injuries, with Cole set to potentially miss two months of action.
The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner will be sidelined with an elbow injury. So far Gerrit Cole has undergone a series of tests that have not revealed any tear in his ulnar collateral ligament, however, he is expected to miss the beginning of the New York Yankees season.
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The fact that New York will be without Gerrit Cole for the foreseeable future has not only affected their season outlook but also their Opening Day plans. It was likely that Cole was slated to open the season again for New York, however, the club will now have to change their strategy.
Although manager Aaron Boone remains quiet on who will be New York's Opening Day pitcher, fans are aware which pitchers will not be serving the role. Carlos Rodon has already been announced as the starter for game two, which takes him out of the running. Now, Marcus Stroman himself has announced that he will also be out of the running for the Opening Day start.
This announcement by Marcus Stroman has frustrated many New York Yankees fans, not because they preferred Stroman in the spot but because Aaron Boone is refusing to declare who will start. This growing frustration has some fans going as far as to say that the club is completely unserious and that this is a bad omen for the season ahead.
Some New York Yankees fans believe that the club will resort to a bullpen game on Opening Day
Other fans have trolled the club by saying that the New York Yankees will begin the season with an opener and bullpen game. The growing pessimism around New York's outlook has some believing that Boone using a bullpen game would be a fitting representation of the current state of the team.
It seems unlikely that the club will rely on the bullpen for Opening Day, but if they opted to do so, it's clear that fans would not be surprised. Realistically with Marcus Stroman and Carlos Rodon out of the picture, the Opening Day starter could be either Nestor Cortes Jr. or Clarke Schmidt.
